Opheliac
by MaPetite-cricket
Summary: They promised they would always be friends but after Sasuke's wedding it turned into more. When it seemed everything would fall into place it only fell apart. Now they're both struggling to fix their relationship while the world continues around them. Sakura/Naruto AND Sakura/Genma.If you don't like the pairings be open-minded or don't read please.Rated M for adult language/themes
1. Chapter 1

**Opheliac **

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto… obviously. I'm not making any money off of this story so don't sue. Please and thank you.

WARNING: This story is rated M for mature themes, language, and heavy lemons in following chapters. This first chapter has sexual situations. Team 7 characters are around 25 in this story, which would put Kakashi and Genma around 40 or so give or take a few years. If you have an issue with the age difference or don't like the pairings, don't read.

Author's note: This is my first epic story! Really, it was only supposed to be a one-shot, but I decided to lengthen it. I know I promised not to publish this till the whole thing was done, but I couldn't help myself, I want to see what people think. Maybe it'll push me to finish the story faster too. With that being said, this story is a Sakura/Genma, Sakura/Naruto.. love triangle anyone? ^_^  
>Also, this story takes place sometime before the war with Madara because I haven't gotten that far in the manga yet. With that being said I know some things are going to deviate from cannon a bit… as it would for this kind of pairing, I guess you could say that it is AU, but please bear with me. Some characters are also a bit OOC. Also this story is a dramaromance/**angst**. It's going to be a bumpy ride folks….

XXXX

**Chapter 1- Opheliac **

_I'm your Opheliac  
>My stalkings prove my virtue<br>I'm open to attack  
>But I don't want to hurt you<br>Whether I swim or sink  
>That's no concern of yours now<br>How could you possibly think  
>You had the power to know how to keep me breathing as the water rises up again<br>Before I slip away_

_-Opheliac _by Emilie Autumn

It was hard not to look, she admitted to herself. No one should look that good, especially not her best friend. Especially not her best friend in a dressing room before her other best friend's wedding. She couldn't help it though, not when he stood there in front of her looking almost mouthwatering in his black formal.

He was a far cry from the boy he had once been. Naruto stood at least a foot taller than she, much to her own chagrin. His hair was still wild as ever, but it had darkened slightly over the last couple of years to a charming dark blond. His shoulders were now broad and his shirt stretched across his wide chest where she could just barely make out the hard muscles underneath. His strong arms crossed in front of him where his large hands, that she knew for a fact were rough and smooth in all the right places, grasped his elbows. Following down the line of his body he had a perfect triangular shape from his well-defined abs down to his hips. He had legs that were lean and muscular, like most Shinobi, but she couldn't help letting her eyes linger the way his pants stretched in the front near the apex of his thighs. He looked so much older than he had when he was only fifteen years old, and in many ways he was also more mature, but he still was just so incredibly… Naruto.

_I so did not just look at Naruto's crotch_, she thought to herself in embarrassment quickly bringing her gaze back up to meet his own. He was still standing there smirking at her, his expression betraying the laughter behind his eyes.

"Do I look good or what?" A highly amused Kuuybi container asked triumphantly behind his bright azure eyes.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Whatever baka," she growled, running into the nearest dressing room to hide the blush that was quickly running up her neck and cheeks like some sort of red flood betraying her thoughts, but not before he heard him chuckle softly behind her.

"Hurry up Sakura-chaaaan!" He whined in a deep voice, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "The wedding is in two hours and I promised Sasuke I wouldn't be late."

Sakura leaned the back of her head against the door in her dressing room as she ran her eyes over the pieces of clothing she had picked out. Of course Ino had originally picked out a particularly nasty number for her to wear, but she'd be damned if she was going to actually wear the bubblegum pink monstrosity. It was just one more way for her loud blond friend to flaunt in her face that she had won the man of both of their dreams and Sakura had not. Well, she may have lost the war, but she was not going to lose the fight… plus pink would clash horribly with her hair.

"Just give me a minute Naruto," She called out. Her hands came down and she unzipped her skirt and pushed it off her hips. Inwardly she cringed at the soft noise and spoke to cover the silence. "You know I really hope Ino shuts up about this whole thing once they're married. I'm tired of her flaunting this whole marriage thing in my face. It's not even like they love each other!" She said spitefully. "Well at least I think Sasuke doesn't love her." She then grasped the bottom her shirt and in one swift motion brought the whole thing over her head. She paused glancing at the door through her reflection in the mirror. The silence was almost palpable. "Naruto?" she called out questioningly.

"I'm not so sure Sakura-chan." He said softly. "I'm sure Sasuke loves her in his own way, but it's not like him to be emotional. Maybe he only shows his love and affection for Ino when they're alone."

Ino and Sasuke alone? Now that was something she didn't want to think about. Sasuke had never been openly anything with her and for some reason thinking about Ino and Sasuke holding hands or staring at each other lovingly where no one could see them not only make her blood boil, but it was also quite ridiculous.

"Yeah and I'm the next Hogake," she muttered bitterly under her breath.

"What was that?" she heard him call from behind the door.

"Uh, nothing!" She called back as she reached for the rich black material of her dress as she placed it over her head and let it slowly fall over the curves of her body. Sure Naruto had changed in the last couple of years. He went from a bubbly little boy, to handsome young teen, to the utterly dashing man that now stood on the other side of the door, but she had changed too. She was no longer the young scrawny pink haired pipsqueak she once had been. Her hair was long again like it had been before, but instead of hanging lifeless at her waist it now curved around her face in shiny waves that touched just slightly below her shoulder blades. Where before her waist was reminiscent of a twelve year old boy, she now had a healthy flare in her hips and a round, albeit, small bottom just above her toned thighs and legs. She had also filled out up top as well, much to her great relief, and even gained a few inches of height. She was nowhere near as curvaceous as her best friend Ino or her Shishou, but she was no mere child either.

"I'm pretty sure he chose her because she was the most willing to bare him the plethora of children he needs to restart his clan. She's nothing but a broodmare." She said rather nastily as she looked at herself in the mirror. She smoothed down her dress and smiled. Ino was going to be so pissed when she saw her. It was made of a black soft fabric that was sleeveless with a heart shaped bodice that showed a generous amount of cleavage and clung tightly to her narrow hips. The skirt portion went all the way down to the floor, but had a long slit up the side that went about to mid-thigh. She had also decided on tall pumps that accentuated every muscle in her toned legs and a pair of black beaded earrings that hung low beneath her ears and swayed while she walked. The earrings even matched a choker that Naruto had given her for birthday a few years ago. It was made of black lace with a large white pearl that was long enough to nestle in the hallow of her throat. As she regarded her reflection in the mirror, she smiled and then applied a quite scandalous shade of pink to her lips.

_Sasuke, eat your heart out_, she thought triumphantly before she braced herself and walked out of the dressing room.

XXXX

"Be nice Sakura," Naruto chided messing with his hair as he looked in the mirror that hung from the dressing room door. "They're our friends and we owe it to them to be there and be happy for them no matter what our opinion is." Then the dressing room door opened and all coherent thought went out the rhetorical window. His eyes went wide and his mouth went dry as he stood here and gapped at her like a fish out of water.

_Great Kami nothing should look so beautiful, _he thought as he relearned how to breathe. It took him two tries before he could speak.

"S-Sakura-chan you look… wow," he said walking up to her. She smiled at him and he instantly felt his heart melt into a puddle on the floor.

"Zip me up?" She asked turning around and pulling her hair to the side giving him a generous view of her smooth back and creamy skin on shoulders. Naruto had no idea what to do. Sakura was standing there in front of him with her dress half undone. It took every ounce of will power he had to not rip the garment off of her and ravish her against the dressing room wall as he took the zipper in his shaking hands and pulled it up.

She looked up at his face through the reflection of the mirror on the door. "Naruto, you're blushing," she teased.

Naruto let his hands linger on the zipper a moment and then before he could stop himself he swept her hair back over her shoulder and let a finger trail across her collar bone and stopped at the pearl at the base of her throat. He took it between his fingers and rubbed the soft surface gently, remembering how he acquired it. It had been on a long solo mission to Rain where he had helped a fisherman and his wife find their son after a brutal storm. After the happy family was united, the boy's mother had quietly left and returned with the pearl. With appreciative tears in her eyes she silently took his hand in hers and pressed the smooth stone into his palm. He flat out refused to take it, but she insisted telling him that it would bring him luck. Later, on his way back to Konoha, he passed by a lace shop and asked them to put the pearl into a necklace; he had given it to Sakura only a few weeks later. She rarely wore it, but it was in moments like these that he couldn't help but think that perhaps it really did bring him luck.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked. She turned around to find him looking at her, his eyes smoldering as if he was looking straight through her. He stepped forward, invading her personal space, until the line of his body touched hers gently and she had to crane her neck upwards to keep eye contact.

"Naruto?" she repeated breathily.

Suddenly he snapped back to reality shaking his head slightly and smiled broadly at her. Slightly confused and a little unsure of what else to do she smiled back hesitantly.

"Um, ready?" he asked nervously, stepping back and offering his arm to her politely. After a few seconds of hesitation she took it and they made their way out of the back of the temple towards the wedding ceremony.

XXXX

The garden in the Uchiha compound, where the wedding was taking place, was in full bloom with flowers of every possible kind and color. Sakura vaguely remembered Ino telling her that Sasuke had hired gardeners who had spent the better half of three months growing them all and perfecting the space just for today. Ino had decided on the outdoor wedding in a traditional black and white motif, except for the flowers of course. Well, Ino probably wanted more colors to match the flowers, but she bet Sasuke would have probably threatened to cancel the whole affair if he had to wear baby blue or violet like she had always dreamed he would. How the hell someone could think blue and purple would go together was beyond her.

She sighed as she stared at the white cloth covered chairs with black sashes that fell to the floor. The chairs themselves extended on either side down a long runway up to a beautiful silver gazebo which had white flowers and silver ribbons decorating every possible inch of its surface. Everything flowed and glittered just right. It was so smooth, crisp, and clean, and it was making her more jealous by the moment. She also noticed that beyond the arch there was a pathway where she knew the reception was being held which she also knew would be just as disgustingly beautiful. It was hard to imagine that the stoic Uchiha would go through all this trouble just for a wedding, but knowing Ino she had been the one to insist on all the fanfare, and knowing Sasuke he felt like he had a newly formed image to uphold. At least this is what she said to make herself feel better. That's her story and she's sticking to it thank you very much.

She sighed once again and walked to her place in a line behind a few of Ino's cousins, waiting for the ceremony to begin before she lost herself in her bitter thoughts once more.

How many times had she and Ino thought of this exact moment in their lives? How many hours had they spent painstakingly planning every possible miniscule detail down to the shape and color of the intricate caviar spoons they would be using just before the five course meal at the reception? Too many to count for sure, and now it would seem that Ino had beat her in every way possible. Ino had the man and the dream wedding, and as much as it shamed her, she was absolutely green with envy. More than anything though, she was sad.

It just wasn't fair! Why couldn't she be the one who got everything she wanted for once? Ino was pretty, from a prestigious clan, popular, outgoing, and now she was also the girl who got a fairytale ending. Sakura didn't want a fairytale, hell Shinobi could hardly hope for anything remotely normal, but she couldn't help but just want something. She just didn't want to be lonely anymore, was that too much to ask?

Sakura watched the many guests who were bustling around taking their final seats before the ceremony began. It seemed as if all of Konoha was in attendance. She briefly noticed that almost the entirety of the front two rows were comprised of the other heads of the main clans, with Tsunade down on the far right. Of course all of Konoha's most important people would be here, Sasuke was the head and only member of the infamous Uchiha clan, and Ino, where her family didn't have the same prestige as the Hyuga, was the head of the Yamanaka clan who was well respected for their techniques primarily used for espionage and interrogation.

Maybe Sasuke hadn't chosen her because she was from a civilian family and had no clan technique…. The thought made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest. It just wasn't fair. She had never given up on Sasuke even when everyone else had. Had she not proven herself enough? She may not have some bloodline limit, but she was Sakura Hanuro, apprentice to the fifth Hogake and legendary Sannin Tsunade. Her strength and medical jutsu were second only to her shishou. Plus it wasn't like she was unattractive. She didn't have the same generous bust line as Ino nor was she blond, bubbly, or outgoing, but those things weren't everything were they? Why hadn't he picked her?

What if he wasn't marrying Ino for her family ties? What if he actually _loved_ her? The thought made her frown. The cold hearted Uchiha was incapable of love, it couldn't be possible…why did it mean that much to her anyway?

_Arg! Why do things have to be so complicated? _She huffed.

This is why she liked Naruto so much. He was simple, easy to read, and no ulterior motives. After he brought Sasuke back, they had fallen right back into a team dynamic that was similar, but would however never be the same as it was before. Sasuke had killed his brother, the only other remaining Uchiha of his clan as well as the most tragic shinobi in all of history. He revenged his clan, but because of all the things that Sasuke had seen and done he would never be the same. He was still the stoic sarcastic Uchiha that had a fierce rivalry with Naruto, but he would forever be tainted by death of his unfortunate circumstances.

Naruto, however, was like her. They both didn't come from a clan nor had any Shinobi in their families at all… that she knew of. He was ostracized because of the nine-tails within him, but other than that he was loyal, kind, stable, and had an uncanny ability to gain anyone's trust and was unbelievably likeable. Plus they had formed an even stronger relationship after Sasuke had left that not even Sasuke could touch.

It started one night long ago, after one of their failed attempts to bring Sasuke back to the village. She had made her way back to her apartment tired, ragged, and broken. She had barely made it home before she lost herself to the agony and the tears came, and suddenly he was just there. Naruto held her as she cried in his arms, neither of them saying a word as he rocked her back and forth cradling her until her sobs died down and the sun was coming up. When she finally pushed away from him he made her another promise, one that he swore he would never break. He would never leave her no matter what happened between them and they would always be friends. It was in that moment she finally saw Naruto, really saw him. All those years it was almost like he was a shadow, something that was there but you sort of took for granted. Who really pays attention to a shadow anyway? But that moment when she saw the sincerity in his eyes as he gently wiped away her tears, she finally saw the person that he had become, and she returned that promise.

Sakura smiled at the memory and turned to look at him. He really was a man now. Strange how they both seemed to have grown up so quickly. She watched him as he stood next to her, lost in his own thoughts as he stared out into the distance. Maybe he was looking at the decorations too. She wondered a moment if boys ever thought of their own weddings when they were little, but looked away quickly when he seemed to sense her gaze upon him and turned to look at her.

Suddenly the grass beneath her feet looked entirely too interesting.

She smiled. Simple, likable, trustworthy Naruto. He might be a baka, but he was _her_ baka.

XXXX

Naruto felt her gaze upon him and turned to look at her and she looked away, but not before he noticed the shadow of a smile on her face. For a moment he continued to look at her in an amused confusion but then looked back over the garden, watching as the guests moved towards their seats.

He had promised he would bring Sasuke back for her and he did, but what he didn't anticipate was that Sasuke would not want to be with her. He figured, hell they all figured, that once the Uchiha had killed his brother and revenged his clan he would return to Konoha and set out to rebuild his clan with Sakura. Well he had killed his brother and he had returned, and sure he planned on rebuilding his clan, just not with her. Naruto didn't know why he had chosen Ino, but if it made the bastard happy, then he would support him as any friend would.

He was happy for Sasuke, really he was, but if he was being completely honest with himself he would also admit that deep down he was also glad that he hadn't chosen their pink haired teammate, because no matter how deeply Sasuke and Sakura cared for each other, Sasuke's feelings for Sakura didn't even hold a candle to how he felt about her. It made him sad to see his favorite kunoichi so forlorn, but he knew it would pass in time, wouldn't it?

Soft music started playing, breaking him from his reverie.

"Sakura," he said with a little more force than he meant to and wasn't surprised to see her flinch slightly. "It's time," he said holding out his arm to her giving her his signature smile. She looked up at him and nodded.

The soft waltz started picking up in volume as she linked her arm in his and slowly he guided her down the aisle as the music played around them. Down at the end he noticed Sasuke looking up at him with a smirk on his face. When they arrived in front of the gazebo, Naruto gently took her arm from his and let Sakura walk to the other side of the archway where Ino would eventually stand.

"What's with the smirk Teme?" he asked as he passed Sasuke on his right.

The stoic ninja grunted nonchalantly grinning wider.

There was a long pause as both of them watched the remaining wedding party file down the aisle towards them taking their places.

"You love her don't you." He finally said. It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement, one that caught him completely off guard.

"Do you?" Naruto asked eyeing the last Uchiha curiously.

The smile slowly died from Sasuke's face. A few moments passed as he looked off into the distance. "No," he said finally.

"Why?" Naruto blurted out, curiosity getting the better of him. He stared at him as if he could read the answer written on the back of his head. "She did everything she could to keep you here, and even when you abandoned her she followed you and never gave up on you. She's smart, beautiful, and strong, hell she's even stronger than Baa-chan. So, why? " The blond asked incredulously.

"Hn."

Naruto watched as his mouth twitched upwards into a smirk once more. "What does that mean?" He asked impatiently.

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe she's just not my type," he answered noncommittally.

For a moment he thought that he must have heard him wrong. _Sasuke has a type?_ Then he realized that he was probably just messing with him.

"Whatever," He said grumpily, looking back down the aisle.

Suddenly the music picked up and everyone stood as Ino came into view. Naruto had to admit that she looked rather pretty in her formfitting white Kimono as she made her way down the aisle, but what really caught his attention was the look on Sasuke's face when he saw her. Naruto noticed that where he wasn't smiling, his eyes were a little brighter and softer than normal and he was standing a little straighter than he had been a few moments ago during their short exchange. Naruto guessed that in Uchiha land this meant that he liked what he saw.

"You love her don't you?" Naruto echoed teasingly under his breath, taking his own turn to smirk at his best friend.

"I'll answer your question when you answer mine, idiot." Sasuke said curtly, his gaze never leaving Ino.

Naruto smiled then. _That's probably as close to a yes as I'm ever going to get_, he mused as Ino took her last remaining steps towards the arch and took her place next to Sasuke.

The rest of the ceremony seemed to go on forever and Naruto really wasn't paying attention as he fidgeted in place. He was tired of standing there and his feet were staring to hurt. Weddings were very boring he decided. There were too many flowers and ribbon things everywhere, and even though it was supposed to be a happy occasion, it seemed like everyone was crying. Plus he was hungry. For a moment he wondered if he could pull off a shadow clone jutsu without anyone noticing so he could get some ramen, but was pleased when suddenly he looked over and Sasuke planted a chaste kiss onto Ino's lips and everyone started to clap. Naruto couldn't be happier that the ceremony was finally over. Sure he was happy that Ino and Sasuke were finally married, but he was also happy to note that, if the rehearsal last night was any indication, now would be the time he got to reach out for Sakura and lead them into the reception area. He smiled when he wasn't disappointed. Happily he reached out for her as Ino and Sasuke moved passed them and Sakura took his arm gently. It was only the slightest of touches but Naruto took it gladly. Again he looked at her and he noticed that she didn't seem as preoccupied in her thoughts as before.

"So what did you think of the ceremony?" She asked suddenly as they strolled through the garden together.

"Well, um, actually I was kinda bored, I mean who knew that priest could talk so much, plus the smell of the flowers was too strong and they were starting to make my eyes burn," he blurted out honestly.

Suddenly he felt her hand connect with the back of his head and he winced.

"Baka," she breathed shaking her head. He looked down at her and saw a smile cross her face, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Are you ok Sakura?" He frowned worriedly.

She gazed at him a moment before smiling at him prettily. "Yeah Naruto, I think I will be."

Together they walked forward in silence.

XXXX

The air was starting to get chilly as the sun set over Hokage Monument. The light from the sun faded and the reception flickered to life as bright twinkling lights, strung around the garden in trees and on the sides of the building in the Uchiha compound, illuminated around them. It was actually quite pretty and the effects of the alcohol blurred the light making it all look rather magical. Sakura sat by herself at a table in the far back slowly sipping plumb wine from a bottle perched in front of her. As she swirled the alcohol under her tongue she couldn't help but savor its sweet flavor even though she was on her third bottle. She always did have a thing for sweet things, especially plumbs.

_Because they're as sweet as I am, _she thought giggling out loud.

She was alone now watching as all the others danced or chatted happily near the dance floor and main table where Sasuke sat with Ino at his side. Sasuke was talking to Inoichi with his hand softly placed over Ino's. It was a very subtle gesture, but for Sasuke it spoke volumes. Was she being selfish for wanting the things that her best friend had?

Wait, don't answer that.

She should just be happy for Ino, she realized. Ino was her best friend and as such deserved every bit of loving encouragement and congratulations from Sakura that she could muster. Sure they had been rivals at one point, but actually now that Ino had won Sasuke's heart, she and Sakura had nothing else to fight or compete over.

The thought suddenly made her sit up straight and brought a wide smile to her lips. She hadn't thought about it like that until now. She was_ free_! She no longer had to fight with her over mundane things like who dressed the best or looked prettiest. It didn't matter because Sasuke was never going to look at her anymore, not like _that_ at least. Now she could focus more on herself for the sake of herself. She giggled aloud and reached for the wine bottle and threw back its remaining contents and this time the alcohol couldn't have tasted sweeter.

She toyed with the top of the bottle and sighed as the warmth of the alcohol spread down her body to her toes, and she brought it up to her face to read the label. It was actually pretty good, maybe she could buy some of her own after the wedding. She squint her eyes to read the small writing, but it was too fuzzy to make out. She giggled again but then had a sobering thought.

So, if she wasn't going to spend all of her time going after Sasuke, what was she going to do? Funny how she had spent over ten years of her life over such trivialities that she didn't even know where to begin. Well, she could always work harder and get that promotion to head medic at that new training facility that Tsunade had been talking about. Her shishou had all but practically thrown the opportunity at her and if she had spent more hours working in the hospital than trying to doll herself up, perhaps she would have gotten it. How was it that at fifteen she had much more mature than she was now at twenty five? After Sasuke had left to join Orochimaru she had worked so hard to be a ninja for herself and not for someone else. She had cut her hair and began working on her skills so that she could be the kunoichi she had always wanted to be. She had been strong, liberated, and self-confident, but that completely crumbled once_ he_ had returned. Those around her had noticed the change immediately, and had brought it up from time to time, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. She was going to do what made her happy, and Sasuke made her happy; at least that's what she had thought. Now she wasn't so sure, but now she could change because she had no other choice.

A feeling close to shame washed over her then as she realized that she had become everything she had told herself she never again wanted to be. _How could things have regressed so badly? _She thought. In her anger she threw the empty wine bottle over her head and heard it shatter against a tree.

"Whoa there Sakura-chan," a voice called out. She turned dizzily to the voice and saw Naruto walking up to her from behind the table. "It's a bottle not a weapon."

"Depends who you're talking to," she said grumpily reaching under the table for another bottle. As she struggled to open its top he sat down and offered his hand out for the bottle to open it. Her eyes narrowed daring him to ask her if she needed help. _Like I need help from anyone,_ she scoffed.

Catching her murderous glare, he threw his hands up in defense and she looked down and continued to struggle with its cap.

"Damn thing," she growled, before losing her temper and with a short burst of her chakra induced strength, she twisted too hard and the neck of the bottle shattered off completely sending glass shards and drops of sweet wine everywhere. Then giggling in glee she poured half of the bottle into her water glass sloshing the rest onto the table.

"Ok, that's enough for you," Naruto said leaning over and confiscating the glass and bottle from her. Sakura let out a cry of indignation and reached forward for it, but realized quickly that the sudden movement made her nauseous. _Maybe I have had enough,_ she thought as the alcohol truly started to kick in.

Sighing she leaned back into her chair and looked up at the sky watching the stars as they blurred together lazily. If it wasn't so beautiful it might have made her sick.

Naruto watched her as she watched the stars behind hooded lashes. Her face was slightly flush from the alcohol and her hair was tousled which made her seem incredibly attractive in her tight black dress. Well Sakura in a tight black dress was attractive period but... _Stop_, he chided himself mentally. He needed to reign in his hormones and get them under control, which was actually considerably more difficult to do when he had sake in his system he realized.

"Ok Sakura-chan, you've been grumpy all day, spill it. What's wrong?" The comment was out of his mouth before he even realized he was thinking it.

She turned her head to the side and smiled lazily at him. "Absolutely nothing Naruto-kun, not anymore."

Naruto blanched as his mind came to a screeching halt. Did she just call him Naruto-_kun_? "What is that supposed to mean?" _and why did you just call me Naruto-kun _he added mentally.

From seeing the look on his face she threw her head back and giggled. "What it means baka is I'm free," she added happily sighing.

Naruto continued to stare at her in confusion. "Uh huh, right." What was this woman going on about? He knew he wasn't always the brightest when it came to women, but he honestly just couldn't figure her out sometimes.

She looked over at him again and sensing his confusion she scooted her chair closer to his and leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder breathing in his musky scent. He smelled like grass and ramen, but underneath that was something just so incredibly him. If optimism had a scent it would be called 'Naruto'. Slowly she brought her hand down trailing her fingertips across the soft fabric of his pants, playing slow gentle circles across his knees. Naruto stiffened but made no move to push her away.

"What it means Naruto-kun," She said in a low voice, "is that I'm finally free from my feelings for Sasuke. I don't have to chase him anymore and come to think of it, I'm not quite sure why I did in the first place."

_There she goes with that Naruto-kun business again_, he thought to himself. Tentatively he reached out and gently lifted her hand from his leg and laced his fingers with hers. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders then and rested his chin on the top of her head. It was remarkable how well they fit together like this. "It was because you loved him Sakura, and we all do funny things when we're in love," he added softly.

For a while neither of them spoke as they just sat in silence watching the people in the distance letting the chatter buzz around them. It startled him out of his reverie when she slowly started to shift and he lifted up his chin to allow her to twist in his arms. Then she looked up at him with green hooded eyes and smiled. "Yes they do," she practically purred, and before his mind could register what was happening, her lips were on his.

It felt like he was drowning and being electrocuted at the same time as shocks of surprise and pleasure jolted through his body. He realized he was holding his breath, and for a moment he thought of pulling away, but he finally exhaled and took in a breath through his nose the scent of blossoms and sweet wine filled his nostrils. She smelled so sweet and her lips were so soft that he seemed to be drowning in the intoxication of it all. He couldn't believe it, he was kissing Sakura-chan and she was kissing him back!

He moaned in the back of his throat and brought his hand up to tangle in her hair as she leaned awkwardly into him trying to deepen the kiss. It was as if everything around them suddenly disappeared and the world faded into the background and the only thing that mattered were the two of them. A little voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him that this was wrong, but he shut it out. Why did it have to be wrong when it felt so right? He pulled away only when his lungs were screaming for air and they both stared at each other for a moment their chests heaving.

Neither of them said anything for a minute or two as they searched each other's eyes. "S..Sakura?" he asked hesitantly. She leaned forward again, but a wash of confusion and guilt tore through him and he looked away.

"Look Sakura, maybe we should…" but whatever he was going to say died on his lips when suddenly she was on him again, this time she lifted herself up straddling his lap before putting her hands around his neck to keep him from pulling away. Naruto yelped in surprise and threw one hand around her waist and the other on her thigh to steady them both before they could fall out of the chair. Taking the hands on her as an invitation, Sakura dipped her head down over his neck laying her lips softly over the tender flesh on the soft spot just below his earlobe, and bit gently as she covered one of her hands over his on her leg and inched it upwards. Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief and his breath hitched. The soft material of her dress was ridding up past her thighs giving him a nice glance of her shapely derriere over her shoulder.

"Sakura," he breathed desperately as she trailed his hand dangerously close to places he had never touched a woman before. The moment his fingers brushed between her legs he jumped out of his chair as if he were burned and dumped her out of his lap none to gracefully onto the cold hard ground where she landed with a surprised _oomph!_

She looked up at him angrily as she ran her hand over her dress to smooth it down. "What the hell is your problem Naruto?" she growled, her eyes practically glowing in irritation.

"What are you doing? What are we doing?" he asked in a near panic, his voice a lot higher in pitch than he would have liked.

"I believe they call it making out baka."

Then her expression changed from angry to suggestive. She looked up at him over her lashes and started to crawl forward, but just before she could reach out to him, he jumped and put a chair between them to ward her off. "I know what making out is _Sakura_, and that," he sneered motioning to the chair in front of him, "was not making out."

"Oh for Kami's sake baka," she cried throwing her hands up in the air. "For years you've been trying to ask me out. For years you've been telling me you love me, and now I realize that for years I've felt the same, and what, now you suddenly decide you don't want me anymore because I want you?"

Naruto's jaw hit the floor. "Holy Kami," he accidently said out loud and in front of him Sakura smiled seductively. "Sakura, this isn't like you," he stuttered in a near panic.

"Bah!" She cried throwing her hands up into the air and suddenly laid back onto the grass in an agitated huff. Lying on the cool grass actually felt quite good considering it was getting harder to see straight with all the alcohol that was buzzing through her system_._

"Just my freaking luck, I need to find a new hobby." She grumbled in agitation so low he almost didn't hear her, and covered her warm forehead with her cool hands. "But why Sakura," she said to herself suddenly in a mocking voice, "falling for men who don't love you back seems to be your freaking specialty."

Once again his jaw hit the ground. _What the hell was going on?_ For a moment he thought that he might faint as a heavy fog pressed against his brain and blackness ate at his vision. When he could finally see again a few minutes had passed. He couldn't decide whether to be scared, shocked, happy, or nauseous, and it didn't help that his body decided to be all of them at once.

"What did you say?" He croaked as he tried to breathe in evenly.

She jumped slightly as if she had forgotten he was there. "What?" she asked, and rolled to her feet, which looked a lot harder than it should have been as she struggled to maintain her balance. He watched a guilty look pass over her features as she walked forward, but before she could complete the last steps between them she tripped over her own feet and fell into him. He caught her instinctively, his hands going underneath her armpits lifting her to her feet like a child. When he pushed her back onto her feet enough to steady her he saw that she was looking away from him and her shoulders were shaking. It took him a moment to realize that she was crying.

"Sakura! What's wrong?" he asked in alarm, his panic rising to a new pitch and he ducked his head trying to catch her eye as he stepped forward, but this time it was her who stepped back.

"I'm so sorry," he heard her say, "I shouldn't have done that, I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have drunk so much, and I sure as hell shouldn't have told you that, not like this," she said gesturing between them, teetering on her feet a little bit.

He didn't know what to do, what to say, what to even think. What do you do when someone you've loved since you were a kid, someone who had always said they loved someone else, suddenly hints that they might love you back? He had so many questions and emotions running through his mind that it physically hurt.

"What shouldn't you have told me?" He asked carefully watching her closely, his pulse in his throat.

This was it, whatever she said next could either make their relationship or destroy it.

"I love you Naruto," she whispered so low that he almost didn't hear it. She looked up at him the tears still shining in her eyes.

His breath hitched and suddenly all the hurt, doubt, and confusion melted away and happiness welled up inside of him. He had waited years for her to say that to him, and even longer for it to be true. He could still remember so many years ago when she had said those same words to him and hadn't meant them. A liar he had called her, and she had deserved it. She had been lying to him then, to trick him in the most hurtful of ways to get him to forget his promise to her. He couldn't have forgotten though. He may be Naruto unpredictable ninja of the leaf, but if he was anything it was loyal. He couldn't have forgotten his promise to bring Sasuke back for her and he eventually made good on that promise.

He looked at her now and searched her eyes. If she was lying to him now it would break him irreparably, but what he saw soothed his worries. There was a rawness in her eyes that she hadn't had before when she said those words to him on their way to the Kage summit. She was looking at him as if she had crossed a line that she could never retrace, and in a way she had. It was more than that though, she was also scared but not of him, not really. She was frightened because she was waiting for his rejection. That was something he could never do even if he didn't feel the same.

He walked forward then and gently tucked her hair behind her ear, he always wanted to do that, and leaned forward and kissed her. The action surprised them both and she gasped into his mouth which sent pleasurable electrical waves down his spine. He pulled away from her lips and slowly started to lay soft kisses down her neck moving his way down her jaw before pulling back to search her eyes. Whatever he was looking for he must have found because the next moment he was kissing her again and this time with much more force than he had the last time. Again he reached forward twisting a hand in her hair and lightly he pulled, tilting her head back to delve into her mouth more deeply, tasting the sweet wine and beyond that something that was just completely her.

"You're drunk," he whispered when he pulled back.

"I know," was all she said and then they were kissing again.

Together they stumbled backwards away from the reception behind a line of forest on the edge of the compound. Sakura cried out not completely from pain as her back hit the trunk of a tree, its rough bark biting sharply into her skin. Naruto pulled her against him to protect her soft flesh and instinctively she rolled her hips against his which caused them both to groan aloud. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers as they both relearned how to breathe.

"You're right Naruto this isn't like me," she said finally, her chest heaving as she took in air.

"No, it's not," he said, "but you were wrong about something Sakura. I haven't changed my mind, I do want you, and of course I still love you, I always have."

He leaned forward then and tilted her chin up. His eyes were smoldering. They had darkened to a deeper blue than she had ever thought imaginable, and it was beautiful.

"We shouldn't do this, we should stop," she whispered against his lips. Her vision was starting to dance behind her eyelids. How much had she drunk?

"No, we shouldn't," he breathed.

She had a moment of confusion over his reply, but before she could ask him what he meant, and before either of them knew what he was doing, he had her by the hand and they were moving outside of the compound, the wedding completely forgotten.

XXXXXX

Gasp! So there you have it, chapter one of my epic long fic! How do you like it so far? Just a heads up, there's a lemon in the next chapter.

Also, thank you so much to my lovely reviewer "happy everyday life" who told me about how the honorific "kun" works. I thought that it could be used as a term of endearment when attached to the end of Naruto's name, but I find that it has more to do with respect, hence used Sasuke-kun and not the familiar "Naruto". Until I figure out how to change this I wanted to make sure everyone was aware that I used it incorrectly. This will help me and us all with our own fics in the future.

I 3 U, so please review.

-Cricket


	2. Chapter 2

**Opheliac **

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto… obviously. I'm not making any money off of this story so don't sue. Please and thank you.

Author's note: This chapter came out a LOT quicker than I thought it would. I'm not sure I'll be able to post as quickly in the future. As a reminder, this story is a drama/romance/**angst**. See that emphasis on the ANGST? I know some of you have said you were worried, but here is your warning. I really do like romance and fluffiness, and there will be lots more of that in the future, I promise. Oh and I really do like Naruto, I'm not being mean on purpose.  
><strong>Large spaces with periods indicate blackouts, as in drunken black out. I'm sure some of you know exactly what that feels like….. if you can remember that is.. <strong>  
>Also, I'm told some characters are OOC and it's a bit AU, but it is a fanfiction, so I'm taking creative license. If you have tips and pointers on how some of these differences can be remedied, please feel free to review or PM, I am very open to criticism. Fanfiction writing is great practice with my own writing after all.<p>

WARNING: **Rated M for mature language and sexual content.** Here is the first lemon, I hope you like it. Team 7 characters are around 25 in this story.

XXXX

**Chapter 2- I get off**

_There's so much left unspoken  
>Between the two of us<br>It's so much more exciting  
>To look when you can't touch<br>You could say I'm different  
>Maybe I'm a freak<br>But I know how to twist ya  
>To bring you to your knees<em>

_I Get off _by Halestorm

XXX

_(Previously)_

"_We shouldn't do this, we should stop," she whispered against his lips. Her vision was starting to dance behind her eyelids. How much had she drunk? _

"_No, we shouldn't," he breathed._

_She had a moment of confusion over his reply, but before she could ask him what he meant, and before either of them knew what he was doing, he had her by the hand and they were moving outside of the compound, the wedding completely forgotten. _

_(Now)_

Sakura entwined her fingers with his as she moved through the streets tripping over her own feet clumsily as the blur of lights and colors made her slightly queasy. She took a few breaths but in doing so lost her balance momentarily and a pair of strong arms caught her before she could hit the ground.

_God he smells good, _she thought clutching onto him.

The drunken fog that was pushing her closer towards unconsciousness made coherent thought almost impossible and she was barely aware of where they were heading as a cool breeze fanned against her face gently calming her stomach. She tried to look around but her vision seemed to be like a broken television set where the picture was rolling downwards before jumping back to the top again. For a moment the thought made her laugh as she contemplated calling a mechanic to fix the damned television in her brain.

Then everything went black.

.

.

.

.

.

.

When she opened her eyes she was only vaguely aware that she had somehow made it back to her apartment, that, and she was naked which was infinitely more surprising.

_What the hell happened to my clothes_, she thought in confusion.

Then someone was moaning and it took a considerable amount of effort to deduce that it was her. She wanted to feel embarrassed, to yell at him or push him away, but kami the way he was touching her made her head go fuzzy and not completely from the alcohol. She bit her lip as she watched him lay soft kisses over the peak of her breast before taking a nipple in his mouth and rolled it around with his tongue. The sensation sent a pleasurable shock from her breasts down to her core and it made her cry out and throw her head back. She felt him smirk against her skin and slowly he started to rub gentle circles above her hip before dipping his fingers lower to her uncovered sex.

Everything was happening so fast that she couldn't keep up with it because her mind felt fuzzy and numb. For a moment he paused as if he was waiting for her to protest, but he wasn't going to hear one, even if she was capable. As if reassured, in one fluid movement he dipped a finger inside of her. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it sure as hell hadn't been this. The movement lit her nerves afire as he stroked her slowly at first exploring her inner lips, but as she began to breath heavily he decided to try something different and began rolling the tip of his finger over her slick pearl in slow torturous circles, and she gasped.

_When the hell had Naruto of all people learned how to do that? _

She moaned and gasped as he worked the soft flesh of her breast in his mouth and continued his ministrations with his hand until she felt like she was going to burst into flames. Then without warning he buried his finger inside of her opening to the hilt causing her to scream out and buck against the intruding digit. The sound must have startled him because he paused a moment longer than necessary before he started pushing in and out of her tortuously slow. It was like her body was taking over for her where her mind couldn't as she rode his finger and fisted the sheets beneath her. When her moans deepened he quickened his movements thrusting into her harder and added another finger into her caressing her slick walls.

Her breathing started to become labored and before she realized it the words are already out of her mouth. "Naruto, please," she begged. When she looked down at him still attached to her breast, she saw him staring up at her with a dark predatory look that was all male and it caused her lower body to instinctually tighten in anticipation. He groaned at the sensation of her body tightening around his fingers, trying to hold on to them as he removed them. Then he let her nipple go with an audible pop as lifted himself above her holding his weight on his elbows on either side of her body before positioned himself over her entrance.

He was telling her something then but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Without warning she felt a stab of pain and cried out as he snapped his hips forward and entered her in one swift movement burying himself deeply inside of her. The air was forced out of her lungs and she flung her arms around his neck needing to hold onto something. It was a complete shock going from fuzzy and tingly with pleasure to the sharp clarity that pain can bring. The pain itself was dull and uncomfortable and she squeezed her eyes shut tight and whimpered trying not to focus on the discomfort, but he started to move and the pain intensified and she let out a strangled cry raking her fingernails across his skin. He hissed and stilled against her and in the back of her panicked mind she registered his voice asking her if she was alright. All she could force herself to do was hold onto him tightly while he whispered apologies in her ear and combed a hand through her hair, calming her as they lay there together joined completely. Eventually she got use to the strange soreness even though it was still uncomfortable as her body tried to accommodate the new intrusion.

Slowly he trailed feather light kisses down her forehead and the side of her face before capturing her lips kissing her with a bruising force that wasn't entirely unpleasant. She had never kissed him quite like this before and for once she couldn't seem to fathom why. It was like he was trying to melt into her body through her mouth as he fed at her with tongue and teeth. The sensation of it all was enough to send tiny pin pricks of light behind her eyelids and she purred in the back of her throat in content. He pulled back and smirked, giving her a look that would have made the Uchiha proud. She giggled drunkenly and reached up knotting her hands into his blond hair and buried her face into his neck.

"I love you," he breathed against her ear.

"Love you too," she whispered lazily, rolling her hips upward instinctually which caused them both to cry out at the sensation, and this time it wasn't completely in pain.

Now given permission, slowly he started to rock his hips back and forth pushing in and out of her gently until he found a steady rhythm. She gasped in relief as the pain started to ebb away until it was replaced by the delicious friction that lit her nerves aflame. It was strange, the emotion that bombarded her all of a sudden. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore except for him. It was like she couldn't remember who she was anymore or where she started and he began as her heart tried to burst in her chest with an emotion she wasn't use to feeling. The only thing that mattered anymore was him above her, around her, and inside her as she drowned in the sensation of it all.

She brought his head down then to kiss him again and gasped as what felt like an electrical current shocked her to her burning core. She liked that sensation very much she decided. It felt like she was burning from the inside out as they continued their slow dance, until the rocking just stopped being good enough and she pulled away for a moment only to buck her hips upward experimentally to meet his. _This felt a lot better!_ The movement forced him deeper inside of her and they both groaned as pleasure shot down her body through her toes. He grabbed her hips then and started pumping into her quicker and with more force as she thrust upward in time to meet his hips eagerly. _Kami it felt so good!_

Suddenly she felt a strange tension starting to build low in her body as everything started to become too much. It sent a sense of urgency through her and she gasped out in frustration or anticipation, she wasn't quite sure which. "Nar-u-to," she panted frantically, throwing her hands around his neck, her fingernails biting into the flesh on his back as she buried her face against his shoulder.

"Please," she panted over and over again as he thrust in and out of her in an almost frantic pace. She wasn't sure what she was begging for, but she needed something, anything, to release the coil that was wound so tightly within her. For a moment the sensation frightened her as the desperation reached its peak, so she released her grip around his neck and grabbed his hips hard and pulled him down so forcefully she felt him crash into her cervix. That's when the coil snapped and the world exploded around her, and she arched her back and screamed.

She could feel the blood rushing in her ears and could hear a sharp ringing sound as pin pricks of light dance behind her eyelids and she fought not to pass out. It was undeniably the most intense feeling she had ever experienced in her life, and she felt a warm sensation leaking down her thighs as she wetly pulsated around him inside her. She heard him groaning as his thrusts became impossibly faster and more erratic. She practically sobbed from the pleasure and brought her eyes up to meet his gaze and gasped jumping in surprise. His eyes had turned red and she could tell he was fighting to control the Kyubi within him. He sensed her fear and stopped moving as forced his eyes shut to hide from her and turned his head to the side.

It only took her a moment to control her panic. "Look at me Naruto, I'm not afraid," she said softly, kissing both of his eyelids gently.

He opened his eyes then looking down at her; the fear of her rejection reflected back at her was so raw. He reached down and took her hand in his and lifted it to cradle her palm against the side of his face. "I would never hurt you," he whispered as his eyes blinked back to blue.

"I know," she said against his mouth, "I trust you," and then she was kissing him and started moving again, encouraging him with her body, trusting him completely.

He gasped into her mouth and started moving with her and it didn't take long before he found a rhythm again and she was crying out, not from fear, but from pleasure. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he started to thrust into her more rapidly which caused her pleasured moans to reach a new pitch. He growled low and deep in a voice that was only half human that vibrated in the back of his throat. Once again he sensed his control slipping and felt his eyes change to red with the Kyubi's chakra. He went to pull away from her again but she forced him to look her in the eyes showing him she wasn't afraid and then kissed him passionately. She could tell that he was close because he lost his rhythm completely then as he reached deeper and deeper inside of her causing her to cry out louder and louder until she wasn't sure she could take it anymore.

She wasn't sure if she climaxed again, but his orgasm was undeniable as a rush of warmth exploded inside her and he cried out her name.

For a few minutes neither of them moved as they both tried to relearn how to breathe. Finally he looked down at her and they both stared at each other in surprise.

"Wow," he said, breaking the tension and they both started to laugh.

Slowly he rolled off of her pulling himself out of her body, the sensation causing her to cry out, and captured her lips with his. When he pulled back again the look she saw in his eyes made her breath catch in her throat. He was looking at her with such unadulterated affection, like he loved her, with the most brilliant smile on his face that she had ever seen. In that moment nothing in the world was more beautiful or mattered to her as much as him.

"Thank you, for trusting me," he whispered.

"Mhmm," She said sleepily.

He reached out then and lifted her to lie against him on her side. Once she laid her head on his shoulder she immediately felt her body start to relax. Vaguely she felt the warmth of a blanket being thrown over her and in her sated haze she thought she heard him talking to her, but she couldn't make out the words. Within moments she was asleep.

XXXX

The first thing Sakura felt when she woke was an overwhelming need to vomit. She could feel pins and needles prickle across her skin and the room became uncomfortably hot as her mouth filled with saliva. It didn't take a medic to understand the sense of urgency.

Her eyes snapped open and were instantly assaulted by a blinding light that was coming through her window. She immediately shut them again throwing herself off of her bed and ran towards her bathroom as her headache pounded behind her eyelids. She barely made it in time before she emptied her stomach into the toilet. Her nose and throat burned as tears fell down her face and even after there was nothing left, she dry heaved for a few minutes before her stomach settled.

Completely exhausted, she lifted herself off the floor to the sink and turned on the cool water to wash her mouth out and drink a few glasses. As she set the glass down on the counter she chanced a look up into the mirror and winced at her reflection. Her hair was standing out in strange angles and she was deathly pale with deep purple bags under her eyes. Groaning she slid down to the ground on all fours grabbing a towel and wiping her mouth in the process on her way down. Then before she could stop herself, she slumped face down on the floor and sighed as the cool surface pressed against her cheek. She closed her eyes and within moments she was asleep again.

XXXX

"Sakura? Sakura, are you alright?"

Opening her eyes was much more difficult than it should be, almost like trying to open them under water. Light pressed through the back of her eyelids causing a piercing pain straight to her brain and she groaned. Finally she managed to open her eyes and found his face in front of hers. It stunned her for a moment and then she became aware that she was lying on a painfully hard and cold surface. _Where am I?_ she wondered, trying to remember how she ended up on the floor in her bathroom. Then she tasted the sour undertone in the back of her throat which triggered her memory of earlier that morning. _Well I guess that answers that question_, she thought bitterly before realizing that Naruto had asked her a question. _Wait, Naruto?_

"I..," she croaked, "Naruto? What are you doing here?" she asked bringing her hand to her head willing the memories to come back to her.

"I woke up and you weren't in bed so I went looking for you," he answered, completely misinterpreting her question. "Why are you sleeping in the bathroom?" He asked, helping her sit up against her sink. Slowly he ran his fingers through her soft hair letting his hand tangle in it as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes for a moment before bringing her own hands up to her temple sending a wave of cooling chakra into her brain to ease the pounding she felt behind her eyes and the splitting headache behind them. When she opened her eyes again she could see concern written over his features. Why would he come looking for her, and why the hell would Naruto be in her bed?

With a sudden jolt she realized that she was completely and utterly nude sending a sharp wave panic through her veins as everything started to come together. She remembered talking with Naruto at Sasuke and Ino's wedding, there was also lots and lots of plumb wine, and then kissing. Yes, she definitely remembered kissing Naruto, and then everything went black.

No, wait… she remembered being in bed with him as he… as they…._Kami_, they didn't, did they?

Naruto watched her as she suddenly went pale.

"Naruto, we didn't…" she started but was unable to finish. Even as the words left her mouth she already knew the answer as memories of last night flashed through her mind and everything came back in a rush.

He looked at her a moment completely and utterly confused. "What do you mean?" he asked her shakily, but then it hit him and he jumped back from her as if he were burned. "You don't… you can't… you couldn't have been that drunk… were you?" He asked shaking his head as if he could banish the thoughts from his mind, before turning a shade of green.

Sakura watched him as a silent inner turmoil played over his features, and suddenly she felt awfully and inexcusably guilty. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. What could she say?

"Of course I was baka, it was a wedding…" after the words left her mouth she immediately regretted them. That wasn't what she had wanted to say and apparently it was definitely not the answer he wanted to hear because in the next moment he shot up so fast it caused her a moment of nausea, and when she looked up at him he was staring at her with the most pained expression she had ever seen on his face.

"I.. I'm sorry Sakura, I have to go," he said before he turned away from her and headed towards the bedroom.

_What the hell just happened? _

"Naruto wait!" She cried reaching out to him but he was already out the door. "Shit," she breathed standing up so quickly she stumbled into the counter which painfully connected with her hip as she pushed her way out the door. Moving was still a little bit difficult, and with a sickening realization she found that she was still slightly tipsy, so she pushed some chakra into her liver to help metabolize some of the remaining alcohol.

_Kami, how much did I drink last night?_

As she stumbled outside she found him searching for his clothing in her bedroom making every possible attempt to not make eye contact with her.

"Naruto stop," she pleaded walking to her bed pulling a sheet around her body. He ignored her and she watched him lean down to grab a shoe that had somehow found its way under her bed, but in doing so he lost his grip on the clothing in his arms and it all fell to the floor at his feet.

"Damn it!" He growled.

"I said stop!" She cried moving over to him grabbing his hand. "Wait, just wait," she pleaded. His eyes searched hers for a moment before he slowly made his way to sit on the bed. She knew she should say something to him, to comfort him, but is unsure of what to say? _It's ok Naruto, it's not your fault we both had so much to drink we ended up sleeping together. I can't be too mad I guess, after all it takes two to tango right? _Great, even in her head it sounded stupid. Whatever had happened last night had been amazing, even if she didn't remember exactly how they had gotten to that point. _His suit, it had to have been the suit, _she thought. _Well that and the alcohol_.

Who was she trying to kid? She knew that their relationship had been changing over the years, but it was like they were constantly dancing around the subject. They had never talked about it before and he had never made any move to take their relationship any further, well, until last night obviously. It was just too weird. To her she still felt like the same twelve year old girl stuck in a silly love triangle between her, Sasuke, and Naruto. She wasn't sure when it had happened, and without even realizing it herself, somehow Sasuke had fallen out of that equation. She still cared for Sasuke and maybe deep down she still loved him somewhere, but she wasn't in love with him, and maybe she never really had been. What was it that she felt for Naruto? Was it love? _I can't be, _she tried to reason with herself, _I can't be in love with Naruto, he's just my friend… isn't he_? Well, no matter what their relationship had been before, now things had just gotten infinitely more complicated.

Suddenly the image of a twelve year old Naruto in his identification picture when he had made genin flashed into her mind, and it must have been the stress starting to get to her because before she could help it, the laughter which started low in her throat had bubbled out of her mouth before she could stop it. Horrified she threw her hands over her mouth trying to quell the treacherous sound.

Naruto's eyes widen for a moment before his eyebrows furrowed in hurt and he stood back up to leave.

"No wait! I'm sorry, I just, I don't know what to say and I guess I just… please don't leave?" Sakura asked in a voice that sounded too small to be her own. His eyes searched hers for a moment and then looked away to stare at the ground. It took him a few minutes before he said anything.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked finally looking up at her with a pained expression.

_He looks like hell, _she thought running her eyes over his disheveled hair to a spot just below his earlobe that looked like it was blossoming into a dark reddish purple color. Then on further inspection she found the little loves bites were all over his body making a trail down to… Great Kami, what was she, some kind of crazed chipmunk or something? It was silly, stupid really, but just seeing the marks caused a flood of memories that she hadn't remembered before and she blushed fiercely and looked away. Maybe she wasn't as ok as she thought she was.

"Why would I be mad at you?" She asked, her voice only wavering slightly. Brownie points for her.

"Kami, you can't even look at me," he breathed in despair.

And that's when she reached her breaking point. For some reason his words broke through her thread bare restraint on her already frayed nerves and she looked up and glared at him in defiance. "I'm sorry Naruto, for some reason I find it difficult to talk to you while you're completely fucking naked." she seethed in a voice so low it sounded dangerous even to herself.

Then it was his turn to blush as he lifted his shirt off of the floor and deposited onto his lap with a soft _plop_ while mumbling an incoherent apology.

"Look," she said trying to banish the anger she wasn't sure she really felt out of her voice, "I'm not sure what happened that got us to this point. To be honest I really only remember the reception and a lot of drinking, and then the next thing I know we're here," she said matter-of-factly pointing to the bed and cringed when she looked up and saw the look of distress in his eyes. "But, um well," suddenly she was losing what to say again and, as her hangover receded and her sobering mind became more and more clear, she was also starting to become more and more uncomfortable by the second. "Well you see…" she tried again, but there were no words.

"_Now_ you can't look at me," he said putting his face into his hands defeated.

"Arg, this is ridiculous!" she cried making him jump. "We're best friends, things like this happen right? We just need to be mature about this and move on."

"I don't _want_ to move on! Sakura we've been friends for a long time and we both have other friends, so we both know friends don't do… that." He said waving over the bed and then covered his face with his hands again.

"Yeah well alcohol does that to people doesn't it? Hell I should know, I am the apprentice to the biggest alcoholic in all of Fire Country. I mean yeah, it's a little weird and not at all how I would have planned it, but hey at least my first time was with someone I trust right?" She said with a tentative smile.

Next to her Naruto made something close to a strangled sound as he pushed the palms of his hands against his eyes. "Maybe, or maybe you shouldn't trust me Sakura."

His words shocked her for a moment and then she groaned becoming more and more frustrated by the second. _Stupid insufferable Naruto!_ She fumed. "Naruto, why do I always have to be the one to talk some sense into you baka? Can't you make this a little more comfortable for the both of us? You're acting like a freaking martyr. I'm just trying to be mature about this. What happened, it wasn't your fault and it's not mine either," she added hastily. "We were drunk, but you know what, if you're really that traumatized over it we can just pretend that it never happened!" She said practically screeching the last part feeling the tears well up in her eyes.

This wasn't how this was supposed to be happening at all, well really _this_ wasn't supposed to be happening at all especially not with him. Wasn't he supposed to be holding her or something while they woke in each other's arms? Or maybe surprising her with breakfast in bed telling her how much he loved her or something? Sex was supposed to perfect things not make them more difficult. _Damn those stupid romance novels! _she thought viciously. It wasn't supposed to be like this. How could she lose something so precious to him in a drunken haze which they both were obviously regretting?

"I wasn't."

The words were so soft, for a moment she wasn't sure he had said anything at all.

"I wasn't drunk Sakura."

It was like the air had suddenly been pulled out of the room by a vacuum and it was getting hard to breathe. "Wait, what?" she choked out.

"You said _we_ were drunk, but I wasn't," he repeated. "Yeah we were both drinking, but the Kyubi keeps me from really getting to that point. I just, I was caught up in the moment, and you were just so beautiful and I knew you were drinking, I knew, but you were telling me you wanted me and you've never said anything like that to me before, you never touched me like that before, and I never knew you actually felt that way and…"

"Stop."

She couldn't do it, she didn't want to hear anymore. One moment she was trying to cope with the fact that she had just slept with her best friend, then she was angry at said friend for blowing things out of proportion, and now she realized that he couldn't have surprised her more if he had hit her. If he wasn't drunk why hadn't he stopped her? He had at one point hadn't he? The memories were still a little bit jumbled in her head, and the details fuzzy around the edges. Why hadn't he stopped? _"You were telling me you wanted me and you've never said anything like that to me before."_ He had said.

It was like the world had suddenly collapsed in on itself and she couldn't decide whether to be angry, sad, or ashamed. Her emotions were like a wildfire inside of her that was starting to build and spread throughout her mind. He was right, she shouldn't have trusted him, but how was she supposed to know that? They were friends; she should have been able to. Worse still she should have been able to trust herself, but obviously she couldn't do that either.

"Sakura, I…"

"Get out."

All the breath rushed out of him as if she had physically punched him and to tell the truth she hadn't exactly dismissed the idea.

He looked at her frantically and reached for her hand. "Sakura please, just let me…"

"Let you what?" She asked viciously, "Explain?" The anger had come so quickly that she didn't know if she could contain it anymore. She hadn't exactly been known to keep her anger in check before and she wasn't about to start now.

"Yes," he said is a voice that almost sounded pitiful, but she wasn't finished yet.

"Here, explain this to me then Naruto since you are so willing to stay all of a sudden. Why would you of all people let things escalate the way they did if you knew I was drunk? I'm sorry that I started things, I really am, but I also remember saying that we shouldn't."

"But you also said…"

"I don't care what else I said!" She snapped impatiently. "Look, if it was just a drunken mistake on both our parts I could accept that. It wouldn't exactly be how I would have wanted it, but if it was just something that happened because we were both too stupid and hormonal to stop it whatever, but this? Is _this_ really what you wanted?"

Naruto's eyes were as wide as saucers. The word _mistake_ playing over and over in his mind. "No," he practically whimpered, "but you said you wanted to and I guess I was afraid that I might never get another chance to show you how I felt, so I took it. I just got caught up in the moment. Sakura you said you…"

Sakura turned a very frightening shade of red. "So let me get this straight," she interrupted. "I tell you I want you while I'm pass out drunk and you had to take advantage of the situation because you were afraid that I might change my mind later?"

"What? No.. that's not… You didn't say no Sakura," he said flustered.

Sakura covered her face with her hands and willed herself not to cry.

Naruto felt like he was going to be sick. Was that what really happened? Had he taken advantage of her? Even the thought of it sent a jolt of fear through his body and a strange feeling of guilt exploding in his chest. He really had just made a very bad mistake hadn't he? He went to open his mouth to say something to tell her that's not how it was, but no sound came out. He just didn't know what to say to convince her otherwise.

He stood suddenly to kneel in front of her and reached out to take her hands in his own, but she slapped them away.

"Please Sakura, I'm trying to explain, I just, I'm not very good at this kind of thing. You know that and…"

"Get out," she said standing.

"Wait Sakura, please," he begged.

"I said get out!" She yelled angrily rising to her feet and pointed to her bedroom door. "Leave before I say or do something I won't be able to take back," She almost pleaded.

He stood there in shock a few moments and said nothing as he nodded and stood collecting his clothing. His brain felt numb and he couldn't seem to find a coherent thought as he dressed in a haze, the look of hurt and rejection plainly showing in his eyes with tears he had yet to shed. He made his way over to her door silently and looked at her one more time.

She turned her back to him willing herself to keep her mouth shut. The only indication that he was finally gone was the soft click she heard a few minutes later as her front door closed. Then before she could stop them, the tears came and her world really did fall apart.

XXXX

Ah yes, the classic yet awkward drunken one night stand…. Poor Naruto…. But hey, poor Sakura too ya know? So what did you think about the lemon? I _tried_ to make it a bit choppy and almost rushed, as well as a bit more one sided on Sakura's part to show drunken confusion. How effective it was is up for you to decide. I know it's a LOT clearer than a real black out episode, but I didn't want it to be too incoherent. Suggestions to better accomplish this effect are welcome.

Also, I love it when people try to guess what's going to happen in the story. It lets me know what you guys want to see and I don't mind taking your suggestions into advisement. Who says fanfic writing can't be a group effort? Review or PM with questions, concerns, comments. Thank you for reading!

Remember, I 3 U so please review!

-Cricket

Ps. We get to see Genma in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Opheliac**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto… obviously. I'm not making any money off of this story so don't sue. Please and thank you.

Author's note: More angst in this chapter.

WARNING: Rated M for mature language and adult situations. Team 7 characters are around 25 in this story, which would put Kakashi and Genma around 40 or so give or take a few years. If you have an issue with the age difference or don't like the pairings, don't read.

XXXX

Chapter 3- Time is on my side

It had been two weeks, two agonizing weeks since he had woken up in Sakura's bed, and he hadn't heard a word from her. He had looked for her in the hospital but he just couldn't find her and to make matters worse, no one could even recall seeing her recently. Earlier on this week he had gone to the Uchiha compound to ask about her from Ino, but she had told him that she hadn't seen Sakura since the wedding. When he had gone to Tsunade's office to ask for her, Shizune had sent him away without letting him in. He even tried waiting for her outside the building after her shift, but she didn't come out which meant that she had transported herself directly into her apartment or she hadn't gone to work at all which wasn't likely. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but she had to be avoiding him. Feeling dejected he made his way away from the tower on autopilot and headed towards Ichiraku's.

He knew he should just leave her alone for a while but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to see her so badly, just to beg her to sit and hear him out for a moment. He knew their first time shouldn't have been like that. He had known she had had too much to drink, and now that he thought back on it, he had known how much. In all fairness she had started the whole thing but she had said she was "pass out drunk," and he hadn't been anywhere near that. Actually, at one point when they were walking back to her apartment, she had stumbled so severely that he had had to catch her before she fell and once he did, he noticed that her eyes had glazed over and she had said nothing else as he carried her back to her apartment. _Kami maybe she was right_.

She hadn't even remembered everything she had said to him that night, those sweet words of trust and love. Was there more that she couldn't remember? The thought made him sad all of a sudden and he wasn't entirely sure why. He knew she had to remember most of it, at least he hoped so. For him it had been more than just sex he had made love to her, at least he thought he had. How could she not remember everything they had done, or the words and the touches _she_ initiated? _"Yeah well alcohol does that to people doesn't it?"_ Her words raced through his mind and he sneered, face contorting in disgust. _Yeah well if that's what alcohol does to people, I'm never drinking again_, he thought bitterly.

"Dobe if you hold that stupid look on your face long enough it's going to stick that way."

Shocked out of his own thoughts he looked up to see a stoic Uchiha staring at him as they both stood in the middle of the road, as people where passing by them in the afternoon rush doing there shopping and heading home for dinner.

"What are you doing here Teme?" Naruto asked indifferently as he started walking forward again.

He glanced back at his friend who looked him over, and for a moment was sure he was going to say something, but instead he fell into step with him and began walking by his side.

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked noncommittally.

For a moment Naruto's heart did a flip flop. "Where?" he asked, looking around expectantly.

"Wow Dobe, you're being more of an idiot than usual."

Naruto let out an irritated huff, but decided to let the comment go. "Sasuke, can I ask you a question?" He asked cautiously.

"Hn."

Naruto looked at him nervously and fiddled with his frog wallet before he began to speak. "See I have this friend, and he slept with someone we know while she was drunk. Now the girl is kinda mad at him you see, and he wants to know what to do about it."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You didn't?"

"No, my friend did," he said irritably.

Sasuke sighed. "Kami you're an idiot."

"Stop calling me an idiot," Naruto snapped grumpily.

"Then stop being an idiot," he replied matter-of-factly.

Naruto bristled slightly lifting his chin in annoyance, but then sighed. He wasn't really in the mood to fight with Sasuke today.

They walked past colorful stalls in the market place that filled the air with thick smells of breads, meats, and noodles being prepared for patrons. Maybe he would order a bowl of everything today, that might make him feel better. They continued walking in silence until they stood in front of his favorite ramen stand. As Naruto reached out to pull back the privacy curtain that separated the sitting area from the street, a voice cut through the silence.

"Funny you should mention your favorite student Kakashi. I just happened to have run into her last night," a voice said, the unmistakable mumble from behind a senbon giving his identity away.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked calmly, and Naruto could hear a definite snap of a book being closed. "And what did my little Sakura-chan have to say to you."

"Well," Genma said carefully, "To tell you the truth Kakashi, it didn't seem like _your_ little Sakura-chan wanted to do much talking."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other in curiosity. In normal circumstances Naruto might have felt a little guilty for listening in on his sensei's conversation, but at the moment he was practically leaping past the curtain himself to ask Genma to elaborate. Thankfully the older jounin didn't need any persuasion.

"I'm not following," Kakashi said lightly after a moment of pause.

"Sure you do you old pervert," Genma said matter-of-factly then his voice became more serious. "Look, all joking aside, don't kill me but I met up with her at that bar last night. You know, Yoshio's place on the other side of the village. I just wanted to tell you before someone else did that…"

"Genma if you are going to tell me that you hit on my student.."

"Former student Kakashi," he interrupted.

"Regardless," Kakashi said impatiently. "I don't want to hear it. Her endeavors are none of my concern outside of training and the battle field." He said flatly.

"So you don't care who Hana drinks with?"

"It's Sakura, and no."

"And you don't care who she flirts with?"

There was a pause this time before he answered "No."

"So you certainly shouldn't care who she's sleeping with."

"…"

"Well good," he interrupted the awkward pause happily. "I don't feel guilty then."

Everything happened so fast. One moment Naruto was standing there next to Sasuke eavesdropping on Genma outside the curtain at Ichiraku's, and in the next Kakashi had pushed the other jounin outside the stall and had him by the throat against the wall as he slowly pressed his fingers into the other man's flesh.

"What are you getting at?" Kakashi growled dangerously, staring into Genma's eyes which were wide in surprise.

The surprise wore off and Naruto jumped forward. "Wait Sensei," he said walking to his sensei's side. "Let him explain."

No one saw Kakashi stiffen slightly as he turned his head to see two of his students standing directly behind him.

"No, I think I'll pass," Genma said quickly as his eyes darted back forth between all of them, his voice a little higher than he wanted it to be. "Anyway, I'm late, you know for things, very important things which are crucial to Konoha and its safety. I'll talk to you later Kakashi." He pushed forward to get out of the Copy ninja's grasp, but Kakashi's grip tightened.

"No, please," Kakashi said dragging the man off from the wall and pushed him none to gently back onto his bar stool. "Finish the story you were telling."

Genma paled a bit as he looked up at three royally pissed off and over protective teammates of the woman he had the misfortune of being involved with the night before, stand over him menacingly. "Really, there's not too much left to the story."

"I insist."

Genma looked to his silver haired friend and realized the outcome of this altercation was not going to end well no matter what he said. He had never been on the receiving end of the copy ninja's wrath before, but now that he was, he certainly understood why he was one of the most feared Shinobi in all of the Fire Nation. Cautiously he cleared his throat.

"Yes, well you see, I uh. Like I said, I saw Hana last night,"

"Sakura!" the three men corrected him at once.

"Sakura, right," he amended nervously before continuing, "and in a very gentlemanly fashion I offered to buy her a drink which she accepted and…" he trailed off looking back and forth between her teammates.

"Spit it out Shiranui," Kakashi seethed.

"And we ended sharing each other's company for a few hours, very nice girl that one. I look forward to having a very polite and respectful relationship with her in the future," he laughed shakily.

Something seemed off about his story. Why would Sakura meet up with Genma of all people? "I didn't even think you knew each other." Naruto said through gritted teeth.

"Only biblically," he chuckled nervously.

A deafening silence settled around them, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife as Genma's eyes widened in horror at his own confession.

And that's when Kakashi tackled him.

They had never seen their former sensei react in a way like that before, completely losing his temper. It was actually rather scary, if not only a little impressive. It had only taken him a mere fraction of a second to have Genma on the ground with his arm twisted painfully behind his back, face pressed into the dirt, while he held the man's own senbon to his throat. Naruto and Sasuke jumped to pull Kakashi off of the senbon wielding jounin and he didn't go calmly as they pulled him back and onto his feet. Roughly Kakashi pushed their arms off of him and advanced on the fellow jounin who was now coughing and trying to roll onto his back.

"I'm sorry Genma, I think I've misunderstood you. There must be some mistake because I know you didn't just say that you… with _my_ student nonetheless." He said dangerously pointing the senbon in his face.

"Former student," Genma wheezed.

"That's not the point!" He hissed.

"Wait what did he do 'with' her?" Naruto asked curiously. Sasuke just stood there too stunned to move.

"What it means Naruto, is that Genma had better not ever touch a hair on Sakura's head again, or I will turn his ribcage inside out and wear it as a hat," he said with a smile on his face, but his tone was anything but friendly.

"So only the heads off limits then?" he asked playfully, which he immediately regretted when Kakashi punched him hard in the mouth. Genma's head whipped to the side mumbling something about having no sense of humor and spat blood onto the dirt beside him.

Again the air around them went silent as the wheels in Naruto's head turned. It took him a moment, and when the realization hit him, his whole body went rigid and his head bent forward. He raised his hands and covered his face as he started to hyperventilate. He didn't know what to feel or what to think. His mind was racing with a hundred different thoughts all worse than the last. Sakura-chan, his Sakura-chan… Had what they've done not meant anything to her at all?

Suddenly, with all his animosity forgotten, Kakashi looked at Naruto curiously as his body started to shake with an emotion he was not equipped to deal with. "Naruto?" He asked, but the young jounin didn't reply. He walked forward and reached out to touch his shoulder, but when he did, the blond kyuubi container flinched violently and shrugged him off.

"Forget it. Don't worry about me," Naruto said softly and before anyone could stop him, he turned and leapt onto the neighboring building, and then he was gone.

"What the hell just happened?" Genma asked, rising to his feet incredulously, wiping off his clothes and a bit of blood that was dribbling down the side of his mouth.

"I think I have a good idea," Sasuke said turning to Kakashi, "and I think you do too."

Kakashi ran a hand through his wild grey hair regarded Sasuke for a moment, before he exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Yeah, I suppose I do. Let's go Sasuke."

Genma looked back and forth to the two Shinobi and their silent understanding in confusion. For a moment he contemplated asking what was going on, but decided it was not his place. He had only brought up Sakura to Kakashi because he figured he was going to find out anyway, and it would have been better to hear from him than from someone else. He was beginning to regret that decision. He watched as Sasuke and Kakashi walked away heading in the direction of Naruto's apartment building before sighing. "Guess I'll be heading home too," he said aloud more to himself than to anyone in particular.

"Oh I don't think so," The old cook at the Ramen bar said slapping a bill in Genma's hand. He stood sternly with an eyebrow raised taping his metal noodle strainer loudly on the counter. "Someone had better pay for this son."

Genma blanched reading the outrageous number on the receipt before looking off into the distance to where Kakashi and Sasuke had disappeared only moments ago.

"Damn it Hatake!" He yelled after him. Grumbling he took out a few notes and handed them to the ramen cook before he turned and headed back towards his apartment. It had really been one hell of a day.

XXXX

Kakashi walked up to Naruto's door slowly and raised his hand to knock. He rapped his knuckles sharply onto the worn wood and was surprised when the door swung open. He looked at Sasuke who nodded once and they both went in.

The room was dark and in the middle was Naruto sitting on his knees looking very lost staring off into nothing. Kakashi couldn't help but think that he looked extremely young as he sat there in silence looking to be in a great deal of shock.

Kakashi sighed, it looked like it was going to be one of _those_ conversations. He had come to terms long ago that he would never marry and have children. Those simple steps in life seemed to be tremendous leaps for him that were completely unappealing. What he had recently come to terms with was that although he never planned on having a family of his own, he already had one with his students. They meant everything to him, and to see Naruto so utterly lost in front of him caused an uncomfortable feeling to blossom in his chest. He knew then that it was his responsibility to help the poor kid, because Kakashi was the closest thing he had to a father.

Slowly he walked over and put a hand on the young shinobi's shoulder. "Stand up Naruto," he ordered softly gripping his arm and pulled.

If he was the least bit surprised that they were there Naruto did not show it as he rose, if only a little unwillingly, and allowed Kakashi to take him over to his kitchen table and deposit him into a chair. Sasuke followed them and without saying a word went and opened a cupboard and took out three glasses and what looked like a cheap bottle of sake.

_Good man_, Kakashi thought gratefully only slightly amused as he nodded to the dark haired Uchiha. Sasuke put a glass in front of him and poured them all a drink.

"Drink," he ordered, placing the glass in Naruto's hand, which he did without complaint.

Naruto made a face as he swallowed its contents and put placed his empty glass back onto the counter and Sasuke poured him another. He looked at it a moment but threw it back in the same fashion as he had the first. It was strange drinking now with his team. Wasn't this what started this mess in the first place?

"Now talk," Kakashi ordered, and after a moment's hesitation he did.

Naruto started out slowly at first telling them about the day of the wedding and how tense everything seemed to be as they had put on their clothing in the dressing room. He then told them about the reception and how he had found her with an empty bottle of wine… or five… and before he realized what was happening she was telling him that she wanted him and was kissing him, to which Kakashi had spit out his drink all over the kitchen table and Sasuke's eyes went wide and he coughed, which in Uchiha land was just as violent of a reaction. In a small voice he told them how he had taken her back to her apartment even though he knew she was intoxicated and, although he had not said it exactly, they understood his meaning of what transpired afterwards. He didn't go into details, but he did tell them that she told him she loved him. Then he explained what had happened the next morning and how she had been avoiding him the last couple of weeks and hadn't heard anything about her until today. What had transpired between her and Genma went unsaid. Once he was done with his story he had taken at least three more shots of sake and was nursing a fourth.

Kakashi didn't know what to say. _Why do kids these days have to make things so complicated?_

"Look, I know this doesn't help much, but these things happen," he said soothingly. Naruto gave him a dubious look and then looked back down at the drink in his hand. "You do have to realize Naruto that no matter who she's loved in the past or even had," he continued, looking as though he were trying to swallow a lemon but he forced himself to say the word anyway, "_sex_ with, it's none of our business. If she chooses you then no one else from her past matters," he said making a considerable effort not to look at Sasuke, for which the Uchiha was grateful.

Naruto nodded his head numbly thankful that the alcohol was now spreading through his system. He searched himself trying to sort out what he felt but was having a hard time understanding it. He felt numb and shock for sure, but also the tiny beginnings of anger and this strange feeling that the wrong thing would send him into a fit of tears at any second. It was a weird stasis of fragility that he was having a hard time comprehending. He had never felt anything like it before.

"You know what you asked me on my wedding day?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Kakashi and Naruto looked at their raven haired teammate and waited for him to continue.

"Yes," Naruto croaked, "and if I remember correctly you never gave me an answer bastard."

Sasuke paid no attention to the playful insult and continued. "You asked me if I loved Ino, and I didn't tell you because the answer is no."

Naruto turned his head so fast to look at him that he thought he sprained his neck. "If you don't love her, then why did you…" he left the question trail off.

Sasuke sighed and looked out the kitchen window before he continued. "I don't dislike her. I married her because it made the most sense." He brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose and rubbed his sinuses trying to fend off his impending headache. "First, I know that Ino has feeling towards me so it made it easier that I did not have to court her. Second she is the heiress to a powerful clan here in Konoha, so I know that at least politically it will insure both of our reputations as heads of our clans. I would have asked Hinata, but she has never shown any interest towards me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow expectantly. "That's it?"

Sasuke suddenly looked a little uncomfortable and he shifted in his seat. "Also it helps that Ino is attractive," he said. Both Naruto and Kakashi noted that the side of his mouth tilted up into a hesitant smirk which caused Kakashi to snort into his drink. "But I also lied to you slightly that day Naruto," he said. At this Naruto perked up and regarded him over his glass. "I told you that I didn't love Sakura."

Naruto violently choked on his drink and Kakashi crushed his glass sending glass shards across the table.

Sasuke looked at his teammates distastefully. "I don't think I love Sakura, not really."

"Wait, but you just said…" Naruto interrupted.

"Let me finish," Sasuke said firmly. "I don't think I love Sakura, because I do not think I am fully capable of it anymore. I do, however, care for her in such a way that is the closest I will ever get to it with anyone I suppose." He looked down and rubbed the lip of his glass almost mournfully.

"Then why didn't you try to be with her when you came back? Why choose Ino over her if you knew how much she loved you?" His best friend asked holding out a napkin to Kakashi, who took it gratefully, wiping up bits of glass and alcohol.

"I did not choose her for that exact reason," Sasuke said calmly as if it explained everything.

Naruto just sat there and blinked at him. He looked to Kakashi who was shaking his head knowingly and it only frustrated him. Did the bastard always need to talk in riddles or something? "Err… I don't think I understand."

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "You really are an idiot. Look, I know how much Sakura cared for me and if I had chosen to be with her it wouldn't have been fair to her. She doesn't have a clan Naruto, she doesn't have to marry for money or political reasons like the other heads do. The women from clans are used to loveless marriages because it is expected of them. Ino agreed to marry me because it was the best thing she could have done for her clan. She isn't under any disillusionment over my feelings for her. I don't think she loves me either, not in the same way she used to anyway, but that is hardly the point. The point is that, with Ino as my wife, I now rule over the two most powerful clans in Konoha, Hyuga aside. Our children will have power and respect in this village because that is just how things are. It would not have been fair of me to choose a woman who wanted to marry for love and had no interest in anything else, and it would not have been wise on my part. My name would have meant nothing to Sakura other than the prospect of my affections, which I could not have given to her in the way she would have wanted."

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto breathed staring at Sasuke as if he had sprouted a second head.

"As I have said, I do not love Sakura, but that does not mean that I do not hold certain… _feelings_ for her. I want her to be happy. She's my friend and so are you. You can love her the way that I can't and the way that she wants and I think it's absolutely ridiculous that you have let things deteriorate so badly between you two. Idiot," he added for good measure.

Naruto flinched at his words and threw back the rest of his drink and made a face as the alcohol burned down his throat.

"You are her best friend Naruto, and sometimes the lines that distinguish friend and lover are not as distinct as we would like them to be. I do not think Sakura will be able to leave you the way you think that she has. It's just not in her to abandon her friends. I should know," he said quietly. "She's probably at home right now crying her eyes out waiting for you to go apologize or something."

Naruto looked up at him in wonder. Honestly he was positive that this had to be the longest conversation the stoic Uchiha had had with anyone, ever, and secondly he was surprised to find that Sasuke seemed to actually have emotions. He was just so incredibly _human._ You learn something new every day he supposed.

"I agree with Sasuke," Kakashi said then staring across the table over the half empty sake bottle. "From the sound of it, you never established where your relationship was going, but we've all seen how close you two have become. After what happened, knowing her she probably felt overwhelmed and reached out for the first person she could find, and as much as it pains me to admit it, Genma was there." He himself wanted to flay the tips of Genma's fingers off just for touching her. A few weeks in a war camp teaches a man many things, but Genma was right. What Sakura did wasn't any of his business. She was a mature young woman who could make her own decisions, even if he didn't agree with them.

Naruto looked like he wanted to reach across the table and strangle his former sensei. "Are you really going to let this go?" he asked incredulously.

Kakashi noted how the Kyubi containers eyes had glazed over slightly as he grasped the now almost empty sake bottle and was about to pour himself another drink. Not entirely sure how much alcohol Naruto could tolerate, Kakashi reached out and took the bottle from him and brought it to his lips and finished off the bottle. As he set it back down in front of him he smirked.

"With her yeah, with Genma however…" he let the sentence trail off and Sasuke snorted.

"You're a good kid Naruto and so is Sakura, don't worry about it. It'll all blow over soon, if it's meant to be then all you need to do is wait, if not..." _then you need to let her go,_ the second part went unsaid and a quiet understanding settled in around them as they sat in silence.

Naruto leaned back in his seat and watched his two best friends for a moment, and overwhelming sense of gratitude welling up in his chest. He may not have any relatives left, but that didn't mean he didn't have a family, and he was grateful to have them.

Sasuke, realizing that the night was winding down and feeling a bit uncomfortable with the emotional talk, stood collecting his and Naruto's glass and depositing them in the sink. "If you don't mind I need to get home. Ino will be wondering where I am."

"Wouldn't want to keep the lady waiting," Kakashi said giving them both his famous eye crinkle. Then he turned to Naruto. "If you need anything," he said seriously, letting the intention of his words sink in.

"Thanks sensei, you too Teme. Don't worry about me. You're right, Sakura will come around and when she does I'm going to be there waiting for her! I'll show her that no matter what, I'll always be there for her," he said smiling so big that the sides of his mouth started to hurt.

"Hn," was all the Uchiha said nodding once before he disappeared into a swirl of leaves.

Kakashi stood and patted Naruto on the back once before he too disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The smile on his face faded as he looked around into his empty apartment. Now that they were gone he felt truly alone.

Naruto sighed and walked down the hall towards his bed, pulling his shirt over his head and flinging it to the floor. He had never lived with anyone before, but for some reason he couldn't help daydreaming about a certain pink haired girl being there with him getting ready for bed. He could almost see her slip into the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth before returning, smiling up at him before slipping under the covers into a bed they both shared. Perhaps he would hold her and she would whisper to him again that she loved him while they both fell asleep together and he would feel much happier than he did right now. He had never really considered getting married or having a family before, but now that he saw his best friend living a relatively normal life, as normal as it could get for any Shinobi anyway, he couldn't help but wish the same for himself. It was a strange feeling but he couldn't help but want someone to share his life with, someone he could cherish and protect and he just always figured that that person would someday be Sakura. It was only ever Sakura.

Well regardless of what her feelings were, above everything else they would always be friends. Even still, he couldn't stop hoping that it could be more.

Making up his mind he bit his finger and called one of his summons. There was a soft _poof_ and in the smoke a small bumpy green toad stood in front of him. "Good evening Naruto-kun. How are you tonight?" it croaked.

"I'm good thanks," Naruto said as he walked to his nightstand. He rummaged through the drawer for a moment but couldn't find what he was looking for. In a huff he bent down and picked up a piece of trash and found a pen. Quickly he scribbled onto the surface and handed it to the toad.

"Take this," he said, "and deliver it to Sakura if you don't mind."

"Not a problem!" the toad murmured taking it into his mouth. Then as quickly as he appeared he was gone once again.

Naruto stared at the space where the toad had disappeared for a few moments before he made his way back to bed and slipped between the covers. His mind was racing but he forced himself to close his eyes and let his mind go blank. Things would blow over soon, he was sure of it. All he had to do was give it some time.

XXXXX

A few miles away Sakura was staring out her window deep in thought.

She had been avoiding Naruto for the last two weeks and honestly it was killing her. She missed his smile and the way he smelt. She missed getting lunch with him and listening to his stupid stories as they ate ramen. She even missed training and listening to Sai and Sasuke bicker at each other as she and Naruto tried to keep the peace. No matter how interesting the hospital was, all she wanted to do was be back with her team again. This whole ordeal was being blown way out of proportion and she had to stop it. She had said and implied some pretty nasty things but no matter what Naruto was or had done, he wasn't manipulative. If anything he didn't understand what his actions had done or implied and quite honestly she couldn't blame him. She had instigated the whole thing after all. Their relationship had already been confusing before and apparently she had said she wanted him, loved him even, and if her memory was any good indication, she never had or wanted to say no to him. He may be an idiot, but he hadn't forced her to do anything she wouldn't have done if she had been sober. _Now there's a thought, _she thought to herself. It may be surprising, but that didn't make it any less true. After she had made him leave, her anger had boiled over and had ebbed away into sadness and painful lonely feeling and she couldn't decide which was worse. No matter what had happened between them, he was still Naruto. Even if they had crossed a line that night, even if he was mad at her or didn't want to be with her anymore, she couldn't lose him. He was her baka, her Naruto, and he had promised he would never leave.

Suddenly she heard a strange croaking sound. She leaned forward and peered down over her window seal just in time for a toad that she immediately recognized as one of Naruto's summons, to hop through her window straight at her head. She let out a surprised squeal and threw herself onto her bed away from the bumpy creature and stared at it staring at her.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed through clenched teeth.

The toad mumbled something at her but there was something caught in its mouth that made it incoherent. Then without warning the dammed thing vomited onto her window ledge and she wrinkled her nose in disgust and picked up a book near her bed and chucked it at the disgusting vomiting creature.

The toad looked at her in alarm and, in his surprise, he vanished with a soft _poof_ just as the book slammed against the wall where it had just been_._

"Hey! What did you want?" She cried out her window indignantly to the summon she knew was already gone. She eyed the slimy object that was coated in toad bile a moment before she realized there was something written on it. She turned her head to the side and read the small letters that were scrawled half-hazardly.

'_I'm sorry'_ was all it said.

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest when she noticed that it was written on the paper top of a ramen instant noddle cup and before she could stop herself, she smiled. Then remembering she was still hurt and angry she immediately snapped her window shut with an indignant huff. She made her way back over to her bed and lay down wondering what Naruto was doing right at this moment. Guilt and shame washed over her and she took one more peek at the paper top and the words written on it before she finally closed her eyes and went to sleep.

XXXXX

We finally know why Sasuke chose Ino and not Sakura. What do you think? Love it, hate it? Let me know!

Also I've just published a oneshot that goes with this story called "Rebound". It's how Genma and Sakura get together. I published it separately because it contains a very graphic lemon with the two, and I know not everyone likes this pairing. This way those of you who want to read the lemon can, and those of you who don't do not have to read it and will not miss anything crucial as far as the plot goes. So really everyone gets what they want and no hate mail for me over the pairing.

As always, I 3 U so please review!

-Cricket


	4. Chapter 4

Opheliac

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto… obviously. I'm not making any money off of this story so don't sue. Please and thank you.

WARNING: This chapter is pretty mild and probably won't offend your sensibilities, but the story is rated M overall for mature language and adult situations. Team 7 characters are around 25 in this story, which would put Kakashi and Genma around 40 or so give or take a few years. If you have an issue with the age difference or don't like the pairings, don't read.

Author's note: First, chapter 3 has been updated with a few minor changes. Second, I've deleted my rant in chapter 3. If you don't like the story, then you don't like it plain and simple. I actually like my story and, like a reviewer pointed out, really that's all that matters. Plus the story (main plot) hasn't really even started yet, so please give it some time. Also, I think some of the situations in this story reflect real life occurrences. I like that the drama is more realistic, so it will continue to stay this way. As always I encourage and would love **constructive** criticism on grammar, character development, and plot, and I love reading your general comments. Thank you to those of you who have sent me constructive and encouraging reviews and PM's. I appreciate everyone sticking with me.

_**Italics **_**indicate inner dialogue or memories. PM me if you are confused. **

XXXXX

Chapter-4

"SAKURA!" A voice boomed from down the hallway, causing a few pictures on the wall to fall and shatter onto the floor.

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. _Great, now what?_ She had only just arrived for her shift and already she'd done something to get herself into trouble. That seemed to be happening a lot more lately; a file misplaced here, a report gone missing there. Sakura didn't know what was wrong with her recently, but she just kept messing up.

Of course, these last couple weeks had been hell for her. She felt like she was walking around in a haze. Everything was just so different and disjointed. She didn't know what to think or who to talk to, or even if she should talk to anyone. She even called in sick for the first time since becoming Tsunade's apprentice. The only thing that had finally made her even move was the sound of her door being broken in by Ino who had promptly assaulted her both physically and emotionally and had forced her to eat something. Then they sat down and Sakura told her everything. Once she finished, Ino had sat and stared at her for a full five minutes without saying anything, a feat she didn't think was possible, until Sakura had threatened to put a bug in her trap if she was going to keep that frog of a mouth open any longer. Speaking of frogs, she showed her the note Naruto had given her as well and they spent the better half of an hour dissecting every possible interpretation of the words, which really didn't take too long. There were only so many ways to analyze the words, "I'm sorry."

Eventually she and Ino had a long conversation in which Ino first congratulated her on losing her virginity and then promptly told her she felt sorry for her for not remembering most of it. After a long remorseful silence the nosy blond hesitantly asked if he was any good, which caused Sakura to turn red and glare at her in irritation threatening to pound her into minced meat if she kept up that line of conversation. Eventually the girl chat ended in a lot of tears, mutual reassurances of friendship, and the consumption of copious amounts of sweets before Sakura had decided that enough was enough, she needed to go back to work.

It had been almost a month, and still every time she thought of Naruto and what had happened, it caused her to practically squirm with unease. Maybe she should have allowed him to talk so they could work things out, at least then she wouldn't be sitting here wallowing in self-pity and loathing… Oh wait wasn't Tsunade calling her name?

"SAKURA!" the voice called out again vibrating off of the walls. "GET IN HERE NOW!"

Sighing, she pushed away from her desk and drug her feet silently down the hall before she turned the corner and pushed open the large door to the Hokage's office. Inside Tsunade was hunched over her desk examining a few papers with a scowl on her face completely oblivious to her presence.

"Yes Shishou?" she asked respectively bowing her head, trying to hide the exasperation in her voice but only barely managing to do so.

The Hokage's head rose from her papers and she set them down in front of her and laced her fingers together. "Why hello Sakura," Tsunade said politely with a sarcastic smile spreading across her face as she motioned to the chair in front of her. "Please, have a seat."

Sakura raised an eyebrow in suspicion before walking the distance to the chair and sat down tentatively. Something had to be wrong; Tsunade always just barked orders at her and sent her on her way. Her shishou never asked her to have a seat, hell she wasn't even sure if her shishou ever even smiled.

"Sakura would you like to explain to me what you are doing here?" She asked sweetly motioning her hand to where Sakura sat.

Oh Kami, trick questions were never a good sign. "I'm sorry?" She asked regarding her mentor with a look of confusion. "Did you not just call for me Shishou?"

"Why yes Sakura, I did, but that does not explain to me why you are still here," she replied simply.

"Still?" She said looking around. Was this some sort of game or training lesson? Tsunade was known for her unorthodox training methods, but somehow Sakura didn't feel like she was trying to teach anything to her at the moment. This was definitely a your-in-trouble kind of talk, if only she could figure out what she'd done she might have a chance of appeasing the Hokage's fiery temper before it began. She pulled a blank. Defeated, she sucked in a breath and decided to get it over with already. "I'm sorry, but am I missing something Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade's smile completely disappeared then and a scowl replaced it as the vein on her forehead twitched in irritation. There was the Tsunade she knew and feared. Sakura gulped audibly.

"You see Sakura, I received an urgent message yesterday that Madam Shijimi has fallen ill. The Daimyo requested that I leave immediately to see to her health, however being the old bat that he is, he's being completely ridiculous of course and his wife is only suffering from a common case of bronchitis, yet he still insists that someone with incredible medical knowledge and talent be sent. I've informed him that because my presence is not needed I would send my apprentice to personally see to her health, for a _small_ fee of course." She stopped then and looked at Sakura expectantly, but for the life of her, Sakura couldn't figure out what was missing.

"So when do I leave?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well Sakura that's the thing, you should have left about an hour and a half ago. I gave you the assignment yesterday as you finished your rounds at the hospital. Although now that I think on it, you have seemed rather occupied these last couple of weeks. Is there anything you would like to talk to me about Sakura?" She asked expectantly.

All the blood had drained from her face. _A mission? Oh Kami, I don't remember her briefing me at all, _she thought panicking. "No Shishou, nothing important, I've just been a little preoccupied, that's all." She said in a rush and stood up out of her chair. "I apologize, and will leave immediately."

Tsunade looked at her then, a flash of sadness in her eyes before she nodded once and sighed. "Very well," she said pushing a scroll across her desk to Sakura. "Your team will already be waiting for you outside the gates. Here is the information you will need. I'm sending you out with one of my personal guards and two ANBU to insure your safety."

Sakura's eyes went wide. "Is that necessary? It's only a simple trip to the Daimyo's palace. I'm not even leaving fire country."

"Are you questioning me Sakura?" Tsunade asked scowling.

For heaven's sake, she wasn't _that_ stupid. "N…no! Tsunade-sama, of course not, I just don't understand…"

Tsunade sat back in her chair then regarding her student coolly. "And there is no need for you to. I have made my decision. Your team is waiting for you Sakura, I suggest you get moving. You are dismissed."

Realizing that it would not be wise to argue, she bowed a little more deeply than was necessary. "Yes Shishou!" She said quickly, before practically running out the door.

Tsunade sat at her desk in silence staring at the door for a few minutes in a contemplative silence, but then she shrugged and before she could stop herself the laughter started deep in her chest and flowed out of her.

"What's so funny?" Shizune said walking in through the door a stack of papers in her arms. She had seen Sakura fly madly out the door only moments before.

Wiping her eyes Tsunade pulled out a bottle of sake and poured herself a cup.

"That Shizune-chan, is my genius, or possibly madness."

She looked at her crazed mentor a moment doubtingly. "Sakura running out of here like a mad woman is your genius?"

"Yes it is. Compai!" she said happily before pressing the glass to her lips and tipping it back in one swallow.

"What did you do?" Shizune sighed rolling her eyes, but Tsunade said nothing as she raised her glass again gleefully.

XXXX

Sakura ran home as fast as she could and quicker than she thought was humanly possible. She practically tore her door off its hinges and ran in and grabbed her pack, which she always kept conveniently ready for situations such as these, before she flung herself out her door and down the path that lead out of Konoha. As she hurried she quietly chided herself. How had she forgotten a mission? She knew she hadn't been thinking straight lately, but this was bad if she was allowing it to affect her work. She could only hope that Tsunade wouldn't be too angry with her when she returned, or worse, dropped her apprenticeship. Maybe she could get her a nice bottle of sake from the palace. That might make her happy enough to forget this whole thing happened, or at least drunk enough that she didn't remember.

She reached the end of the path, past the front guards, and saw three figures standing there waiting for her on the path leading out of Konoha. As she flung herself down the rest of the way the apology was already upon her lips. "I'm so sorry," she gasped bowing as respectfully as she could, putting her hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "I just was, well, whatever I'm here now, so… oh no, not you." Sakura's face drooped as she looked up and saw none other than Shiranui Genma standing in front of her. What was _he_ doing here? Didn't he have some frivolous errand he should be running right now? Like getting coffee or more booze for her shishou?

'_I'm sending you out with one of my personal guards and two ANBU to insure your safety,'_ Tsunade's words echoed through her head. She meant him?

"Well good morning Sakura-chan, it's good to see you too," he drawled sarcastically frowning at her clicking his tongue against the senbon in his mouth in annoyance.

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she took a step backward. "Sorry, it's not that I, it's just…"

Genma's left eyebrow lifted in curiosity with a look of discontent plain on his face.

What the hell did she mean? She opened her mouth willing something clever or at least polite to come out, but it seemed as though her brain and her mouth weren't working properly today. "Oh never mind," she said shaking the thoughts from her head.

Genma sighed unhappily and put his hands in his pockets. This was going to be a _long_ mission…

Sakura fiddled with the hem of her shirt and stared at the ground as an awkward silence fell around them. They stood there, neither of them looking at each other both refusing to be the person who spoke first. Luckily, they didn't have to. A throat being cleared broke the awkward tension and Sakura's head snapped up and she looked over to who had made the sound. A few feet away from her and Genma were two fully armored and completely hooded ANBU guards with their signature porcelain masks hiding their faces. Neither of them spoke, but she could tell neither of them was particularly amused by her and Genma's little exchange.

"Err, hi," she squeaked stepping closer to Genma. She had never liked the ANBU very much. Their secrecy was always a little off putting and ever sense she had met Haku on team seven's first mission to the land of waves and learned about what they did, she had become a little wary of them to tell the truth. Then she saw a hunter squad destroy a body and her cautiousness was replaced by fear. It had been on her way back from a solo mission in Suna. There were three of them and she could still remember the way they had all eerily turned to glare at her in the same moment, like owls looming over their prey as a crackling fire engulfed the corpse sending putrid smells of burning flesh and black smoke into the air. She stood and stared as the burning flesh sizzled into dust, the only thing left of the body was an ash smeared and smoldering forehead protector with a lone leaf symbol gleaming on the front. She had been too shocked to move to realize that one of the figures had stood and was walking towards her. She had seen something she wasn't supposed to, like an intruder walking in on the scene to witness their silent crime. It wasn't until the ANBU had touched her shoulder that it broke her from her own silent nightmare and, before she knew it, she was running desperately away praying that they wouldn't come after her.

Be a good Shinobi or else they'll send the boogiemen after you. She hadn't been comfortable around them since.

How could someone join a group that were known to be little more than glorified bounty hunters and assassins? What was worse was that they were known to be handpicked by the Hokage herself. She took a breath and reminded herself that they couldn't all be that bad, considering that two of her team leaders had been ANBU at one point and time, and they were just fine… well if you considered a lazy chronically late pervert and a scary genetically modified tree man fine. How bad could they be?

Neither of the guards said anything as they just stood there staring at them.

"They're waiting for your orders." Genma said breaking her from her reverie. She jumped a little and stepped into him, and he chuckled as he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently eased her off his foot. "Relax Hana, they're just here to escort us to the palace," he said soothingly.

She took a breath and laughed a little shakily. "Yeah sorry it's just… I had a bad experience with the ANBU once, solo mission to Sand… anyway it doesn't matter."

Genma lifted an eyebrow but didn't ask her to elaborate.

_I can't believe I told him that,_ she thought to herself. _I haven't told that to anyone, not even_… she stopped herself before she could think his name.

"Right," she said aloud. "So let's go then."

The two ANBU nodded. One took off in front of them as the other waited until both she and Genma had jumped up into the trees, and he followed close behind.

As she flew through the dense foliage she couldn't help but think that this whole situation was strange. Why would Tsunade send two ANBU guards with her on a simple healing mission? And why would she send Genma who was part of her personal guard and was hardly ever away from her side? Perhaps she was really worried about her safety. _No, that would be ridiculous_, she thought, _I'm perfectly capable of traveling by myself_. There would be no reason to send them off specifically together. Unless…

Sakura blanched and nearly fell from the tree branch she had pushed off from. Could it be? Sakura felt an odd sinking feeling settle in the pit of her stomach. Tsunade must know what happened between her and Genma. Of course how, she wouldn't know. Then she thought of something worse. Maybe her shishou was sending Genma and her out together so they could have some time alone to work out their feelings or something. Maybe Tsunade thought that she _liked _Genma. _Oh Kami, please don't tell me she's trying to set me up with him, _but then why would she need ANBU guards with her? Unless, maybe they were chaperones. Sakura groaned aloud and slapped her hand to her forehead.

_Stop!_ She internally chided herself. She really needed to stop thinking about all of this and focus on the mission. She forced the thoughts out of her mind then and let her mind go completely blank as she continued on through the forest.

XXXX

Genma noticed that something was off about Sakura; he'd have to be blind not to notice. First of all she was acting all strange about the two ANBU guards with them. He also couldn't help but notice that she looked like shit. She was still attractive of course, but her hair seemed to be a little wilder and she had gotten a little thinner. More than that, she just didn't seem the same. It was like some of the fire he had liked so much about her had dimmed somewhat. It was hard to explain, but she just looked defeated. _What happened between her and Naruto? _He thought to himself. From the kid's reaction he could take a guess. Naruto had feelings for her, and Genma had gone and slept with the woman he loved. The thought made him a little queasy. So why did Tsunade send him with her of all people?

It had surprised him this morning when Tsunade had told him he was going on a mission with Sakura, and of course he questioned the decision, but why the ANBU guards? He was more than capable of keeping her safe if it came down to that, he was a part of Hokage's personal guard after all.

All the thoughts jumbled around in his head as he watched her fly through the trees in front of him. What had he gotten himself mixed up with this time? Ahead of him he saw Sakura put a hand to her forehead and groan. Guess he wasn't the only one thinking about things. What he really needed to do was focus on the mission. He couldn't let his own personal drama or hers get in the way of what they were sent out here to do. No matter what had happened between them or the awkwardness it had caused, he had a duty to Konoha to put it behind him, at least for now. Slowly he let his mind go blank as he focused his mind onto his surroundings and slipped into the mind of a Shinobi.

XXXXX

It was getting late so they stopped for the night. As Sakura set out their bedrolls and made camp, Genma went out to find fresh water and catch some fish. By the time he had returned she had started a small fire. She didn't notice him as he approached until he was beside her. Without lifting her eyes, she smiled and he sat down.

"I've got some fish," he said lifting it up for her to see, but she didn't turn to look.

He sighed while grabbing a few sticks on the ground and skewered the fish and shoved them into the flames. While the sizzle of fresh meat crackled along with the fire and the delicious smell of dinner hit his nostrils, he turned and looked at her.

She was spread out in front of the fire deep in thought. From where he stood he could see the orange cinders reflected in her eyes as the glow washed her hair a soft ember color. How odd that he had never noticed, but she was beautiful, even if she looked a little worse for wear. It was funnier still how he had never thought of her this way before, at least until that day he had a fit of insanity and invited her to Yoshio's.

_It had been a very long day. Most of it had been spent at Tsunade-sama's side as she bitched and moaned about all the paperwork she was doing before the arrival of the Kazekage. Konoha and Suna were working on a program that would establish a large medical teaching facility in Konoha that both villages would share, which would revolutionize the world of Shinobi as they knew it. Now when students were young in the academy they would have a choice of becoming fighters or becoming healers. In time it would insure that every team had a qualified healer in their squad, something Tsunade had been working towards for many years, which had the potential to save hundreds of lives, not to mention that it was a huge step in the continuing relationship between the two hidden villages and would promise peace and prosperity. Tsunade really was an inspirational leader. She truly cared about her people and the lives of both citizen and ninja alike, although one really wouldn't notice this behind her tough and drunken demeanor, but Genma saw it. He saw her face problems and make hard decisions that would affect her and thousands of lives every day. Of course right now he wanted nothing more than to knock the old hag unconscious and run out the door screaming. _

"_SAKURA!" She yelled. A minute passed but the girl did not come._

"_HARUNO SAKURA!" She screeched again. Still nothing._

"_GENMA!" she bellowed banging her hand on her desk fiercely, which really was entirely unnecessary considering he stood not ten feet away from her. _

"_Yes Tsunade-sama," he said walking in front of her desk and bowing to one knee. _

_She placed her hands together in front of her and said, "Please go find my apprentice and bring her to me."_

"_Yes Tsunade–sama," he said before quickly exiting through the door. _

_As he made his way down the hall he thought about what he was going to do that night and decided to head to Yoshio's, a popular bar frequented by Shinobi, as he knocked on the door to Hokage's pink haired apprentice's office._

"_Come in!" a soft feminine voice called, so he pushed open the door and headed inside. _

_Sakura was sitting at her desk going over some notes. "Genma," she called warily. "I take it Tsunade shishou needs me?"_

"_You got it Hana," he said leaning against her doorframe ideally twirling the senbon between his teeth. _

_Rolling her eyes she said, "Should I be worried?" standing and making her way to the door._

"_Don't think so, but she has been cursing a bit more than usual today, not a good sign."_

_Sakura laughed and shook her head, "No I guess it isn't." _

_Together they made their way down the hall in silence. It was strange, but she looked different today. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but she was practically glowing. _

"_So, how are things Sakura?" he asked casually, focusing intently at the ceiling._

"_Fine I suppose, how are you?" _

"_Fine I suppose," he echoed back to her. There was a long pause. "So, what's new?" he asked lamely, and then immediately chided himself. _

_This was weird, they never really talked before, which looking back on it was rather strange considering they had been working together for years now, well not together per se, but close to each other at least. He spent most of his time with the Hokage and by extension Sakura as well. He had seen her grow from an awkward teenager to the beautiful young woman walking next to him. _

"_Are you trying to hit on me Genma?" She asked playfully, completely breaking him from his thoughts, turning around to face him as she continued to walk backwards her hands behind her back with a sly smile on her face. _

_The shock caused him to come to a screeching halt and he nearly choked on his own senbon. _

"_What? No, of course not," he sputtered defensively, but inwardly he knew that maybe he was, at least just a little bit. What had gotten into him? This wasn't exactly professional behavior. Although was it really his fault that he had taken notice of her? Perhaps it was hers for standing there glowing and looking good enough to eat. _

_Something changed in her then as a look flashed through her eyes. Disappointment perhaps? "Oh," she said turning her back to him, obviously embarrassed, and continued walking. _

'_What the hell just happened?' he thought to himself, before he continued after her. _

_As they reached Tsunade's door she politely turned to him and gave a short bow. Before he could even think about what he was doing he reached forward and tucked a lock of her bright pink hair behind her ear. Her eyes went wide and her breath caught in her throat as he slowly leaned forward invading her personal space and whispered in her ear. _

"_I wouldn't dream of flirting with the Hogake's apprentice, especially not here in front of her master's office. However, I suppose nothing could stop me if I happened to see her tonight at Yoshio's." He smiled when he saw the light bumps of gooseflesh began to rise on her skin where his breath was fanning against her neck. Then he leaned back and looked her in the eyes to judge her reaction. A light blush had kissed her cheeks a particularly flattering rose color and slowly he saw the side of her mouth lift up. _

"_See you tonight," he said coyly, then without waiting for her to reply he walked forward and opened the door and held a hand out for her to walk in, which she did and he shut the door behind her. _

_For a moment he just stood there smirking but not entirely sure of what had just come over him. Good Kami, he had just asked the Hokage's apprentice and his best friend's student out for drinks hadn't he? She could only be at most half his age. Wasn't there a special place in hell reserved for people like him? 'Well screw it' he thought, because at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He always found the chase for women exhilarating, like an elaborate game of cat and mouse, and for some reason suddenly out of nowhere it felt like Sakura was the most elusive mouse of them all, and he wasn't about to let her get away. The game was not over, it had just begun. _

Genma was broken out of his memory when she spoke.

"Do you know where the ANBU went?" she asked hesitantly, eyes unfocused as though she were a million miles away.

"They're probably out in the forest keeping guard. They won't bother us, don't worry." His words were meant to sooth her, but they seemed to have made her more jittery. Genma sighed, it was now or never. "Sakura, why did you come to the bar that night?" She flinched and looked up at him bewildered. He said nothing as they stared at each other so long he thought that perhaps he had over stepped his bounds.

What was she supposed to say and how much was appropriate? The truth? There were so many reasons she wasn't sure which she should tell him. Why did she go to him that night? At first she thought she just wanted to forget her drunken tryst with Naruto, to pave over those memories with some new ones, but that wasn't it, not exactly. She didn't want to forget out of anger, but out of desperation. After Naruto left it was like there was a gaping hole in her chest that nothing could fill, not work, not alcohol, not even her friends or her mentors. She needed something else to fill that emotional void so desperately that she hoped it could be Genma. If he wanted her or needed her like she needed that feeling she had with Naruto, then maybe it could be enough. If she was being completely honest with herself she'd admit it was even more than that though. She also slept with Genma because she _wanted_ to and because she was curious. This newfound sexuality within her was interesting. It made her feel powerful in a way her chakra induced strength never had. She wasn't busty or beautiful in the way that Ino and even Hinata were. She was just large foreheaded, strangely rose haired, thin, and angry Sakura. She couldn't feel more strange and plain if she tried, yet he had found her beautiful and desirable in a way no one else really had. Flirting with him was not only fun but exhilarating. It also helped that he was actually really very handsome. He was about the same height as Kakashi but a little bit more built than the rest of the men on her team. His features were sharp and very masculine, even with his medium length brown hair, soft brown eyes, and long dark lashes. He was also intelligent, remarkably cool headed, and down to earth, not to mention a very capable shinobi in a respectable station. Sure he was twice her age, but that didn't bother her. It meant that he had a secure job and a stable life, and after dealing with all the immaturity of the men her age, her date with him had actually been quite refreshing. She was using the term 'date' rather loosely however. It was more like an awkward, flirtatious, drinking session that lead to something more that neither of them had been expecting.

_Sakura was gathering her things, it was the end of her shift and she was getting ready to leave her office for the day. As she placed a few scrolls into her bag and picked up some paperwork which had Tsunade's forged signature, per the lazy Hokage's request, her mind reeled with the events earlier that day. Genma had asked her out to Yoshio's. Her! No one had ever asked her out to the bar before, well no one except for Ino. Of course Ino had a questionable reputation for frequenting Yoshio's, so Sakura wasn't sure if an invitation from the promiscuous purple princess of Konoha really accounted for much. She wondered if Sasuke was aware of his wife's licentious behavior. Perhaps she could trip one day in front of him, conveniently crying out "your wife's a whore," as she fell. _

"_Hey, are you almost ready?" _

_Sakura jumped and turned to find said slut... err best friend standing in front of her, Ino's beautiful long blond hair flowing over her shoulders prettily. Sakura felt a pang of jealousy over the girl's ability to be ridiculously beautiful in her simple purple two piece. _

"_Yeah just give me a second, I have to drop a few things off to Tsunade and then we can go," she replied, gathering the rest of the papers in her arms. Ino nodded and coolly told her she would meet her outside when she was finished, but not before she eyed her in annoyed curiosity as Sakura coughed something that sounded suspiciously like, 'slut' as she passed her through the door. _

_Sakura smiled evilly as she made her way to Tsunade's office laughing internally at the look on Ino's face. Sometimes best friends could be fun, especially when they teased each other, especially when she was the one doing the teasing. When she reached the office she carefully pressed her ear against the Hokage's door checking for any loud complaining or cursing. After she heard nothing to indicate an unhappy Hokage, she rapped her knuckles hard on the worn wood and slowly entered when she heard a loud voice tell her to come in. _

"_Sakura, there you are. I swear I can never find you when I need you. Where have you been girl?" Tsunade asked impatiently slurring her words drunkenly as she downed what looked to be the remnants of her second bottle of sake that evening. Her eyes were hooded and she had her all too familiar sloppy grin plastered across her face. _

_Sakura rolled her eyes and scowled. 'Oh yes, I'm so difficult to find in my office. You know the one with my name on it,' she thought. What she said was, "In my office. Here are the papers you asked me to sign for you, Hokage-sama." _

_Tsunade reached forward to take the neat pile from her hands, but she somehow managed to trip forward out of her own chair and onto the floor with a loud oomph. Sakura rushed forward and looped her sloshed shishou's arms around her shoulders and lifted her with some chakra induced strength over to the couch near the window in the office. Tsunade scrunched her nose in annoyance but allowed Sakura to place her down gently and pull a blanket off the back of the couch and throw it over her body. _

"_Don't worry about the papers," Tsunade said closing her eyes. "We can go over them tomorrow." _

"_Thank you shishou," Sakura whispered as she reached over to grab a water bottle and bottle of aspirin that were kept in a trunk kept by the side of the couch for times such as these. "I wanted to leave anyway. I have a date at Yoshio's tonight," she said placing the water and pain killers on the floor next to Tsunade's side. She was use to this little ritual. Ten years of being an apprentice to a notorious alcoholic tends to train a girl on the art of treating hangovers. _

_Tsunade cracked one eyelid open. "See you tomorrow then," she said lazily giving her a sleepy smile. "Have fun with Naruto, and tell him I say hello." Then she closed her eyes and within seconds she was asleep. _

_Sakura stared at her mentor in a stunned silence, too surprised and numb to think. Were they really that transparent? Did everyone already just assume that they were dating? Did Tsunade know what had happened between her and Naruto? Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts. There were too many questions and not enough answers it seemed. _

_Sighing she stood and walked out the door and headed down the stairs to meet Ino. _

_XXXX _

_Yoshio's was almost empty tonight, which really wasn't that much of a surprise. It was mostly a bar frequented by shinobi, but every now and then there would be some civilian women, most looking for a cheap thrill and a wild night with a ninja, others looking to catch a husband. 'Good luck,' she thought bitterly. Sakura would say she had no respect for the easy floozies, but considering her married friend was over in the corner with a few of Shikamaru's friends unabashedly flirting with the group while twirling her hair, she figured civilian women weren't that different from Kunoichi. _

_Sakura sat and played with the top of her drink staring at the shockingly blue liquid as it reflected the light in the bar. She felt numb. It was almost as if her mind was refusing to think about anything coherent as she stared unblinking at the glass in front of her. Why couldn't she feel anything? Maybe she was in shock, she wondered. She had studied about the effects of shock in one of her books about trauma. The notion should worry her, but really it didn't, as a matter of fact she couldn't bring herself to care. _

"_She's trouble that one," a deep voice said in front of her. _

_Sakura looked up and saw an older man who was balding up top with wrinkles across his forehead and sides of his eyes staring at her politely as he cleaned a glass with a rather filthy looking rag. Sakura remembered him as Yoshio, the old man who has owned the bar with his namesake for as long as everyone could remember. _

"_Huh?" she said in confusion, shocked out of her own…. shock. _

"_That ninja girl, she's a piece of work," he repeated pointing to a table in the corner of the bar. Sakura smiled as she turned and glanced Ino chatting animatedly with the table of fellow shinobi, a drink in each hand which she seemed to be drinking simultaneously through two separate straws. _

"_Piece of work, that's one word for it," Sakura replied, turning back towards the man in front of her. _

"_And what would be another word for it?" He asked, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. _

"_Something that's not polite to say in front of kind strangers," Sakura answered and together they laughed as she brought the glass to her lips and took down the contents in one quick swallow. After she set the glass back down, Yoshio nodded and pulled up two glasses and poured a caramel colored alcohol into both before silently walking away. Then she felt a warm presence behind her and she turned on her bar stool and gave the man before her a pretty smile. _

"_You're here early," Genma said casually, sitting down next to her and picking up his glass twirling the contents inside. "Eager to see me Hana?" he asked playfully. _

"_Hardly," she scoffed without missing a beat, picking up her own glass. "I told Tsunade-sama that I was going out to get a drink tonight and she let me off early. She is very proud I'm walking, or is that drinking in her footsteps?" _

_He chuckled and brought the glass to his lips and noticed she was watching him pointedly. _

_He faltered. "What?" He asked suspiciously. _

"_How can you drink with that thing in your mouth?" she asked, staring at the metal ninja weapon hanging between his teeth with curiosity. _

"_What, you mean with this?" He twirled the senbon moving it to the side of his mouth and pressed his lips together then tipped back his drink, only wincing slightly as the liquid burned down his throat. The senbon stayed securely in his mouth however and he twirled it with his tongue to emphasize its security. _

"_Fair enough," she giggled, "but it just seems like it would be easier without it," He watched her as she tipped back the contents in her glass smoothly without even blinking. Then she looked at him smirking and made a popping sound with her lips and they both laughed. _

_Seeing both of their drinks finished, he waved his hand and Yoshio returned with a bottle and refilled both their glasses. Without speaking he raised his glass to hers tapping it gently and then swallowed the drink without taking his eyes off of her. He looked at her triumphantly and only looked slightly put off by the fact that once again she made no indication that the alcohol bothered her at all. _

"_So Genma, what's new?" she teased suddenly with the same lame words he had said to her earlier that day. _

_He smirked. "Well there's a new ladies bath house that just opened around the corner from my building today, that's new." _

_She lifted her eyebrows at him. "Do you often frequent ladies bathhouses Shiranui?" She asked with laughter behind her eyes. What a perv!_

"_No," he said chuckling raising his hand for another drink for them both, "but I can show you where it is if you like." _

_She rolled her eyes. Yes that's exactly what she wanted to do, walk around to look at a bathhouse that probably looked like every other bath house in Konoha. Was Genma always this lame, or was he nervous or something? She rather liked the thought that he was nervous around her. "Yeah right, that sounds like a great idea, using a bathhouse next to your building so I can be spied on by you and my perverted sensei," she deadpanned. _

_Genma raised a hand to his chest pretending to be offended. "I would never dream of doing such a thing," he said with a smirk. _

_Sakura laughed, "Maybe not, but Kakashi would." _

_This made him chuckle. "Yeah you're probably right." _

_They fell into a comfortable silence then as they both finished their drinks. Sakura sat cross legged on her stool as she looked off contemplatively into the distance, her finger gently playing with the edge of her glass. She liked this friendly banter she had with Genma. She didn't have the most experience with men, but she could tell that they were flirting, at least she thought they were, and it was actually kind of fun. She never really got to go on that many dates she came to realize, well if you didn't count the ones she went on with Naruto to Ichiraku's. The thought of Naruto made her frown suddenly. What was she going to do about Naruto? It wasn't like she could avoid him forever. Eventually they would have to sit down and talk things out, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. What was she supposed to say to him? He obviously wanted to talk to her though. She saw him outside the hospital and her office almost every day he wasn't on a mission, but why couldn't he just leave her alone till she was ready to talk to him?_

_She fought her conflicting emotions as she dipped her finger into her glass in front of her and brought it up to her mouth and spread a few droplets of alcohol across her bottom lip. Then she pulled her lip into her mouth between her teeth tasting its saccharine burn. Suddenly her tolerance for alcohol failed her as she remembered it was this very same sweet plumb wine that she had at Sasuke's wedding that caused the mess she was in to begin with. If only she hadn't drunk so much at the wedding she could have avoided this whole mess with Naruto altogether. _

"_You look so serious," Genma rasped out next to her. _

_Her head snapped up, startled for a moment, and then she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, just thinking," she said pushing the glass away from her. She didn't want to think about Naruto anymore; it was just too painful and confusing. _

"_Well don't think too hard Hana, you'll give yourself wrinkles." _

_She snorted. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" She asked good-naturedly, bumping her shoulder against his._

"_Into older men are you?" He asked turning on his bar stool to face her with a sly smile. He put his elbow on the counter then and rested his head on his palm looking sideways as he clicked the senbon between his teeth. _

_She snorted again uncrossing her legs and crossing them over again. "Maybe," she chuckled more to herself than to him. Then her smile faded. She stared at him staring at her and it caused a funny feeling in the bottom of her stomach as her blood started to pump faster with adrenaline and her heart rate rose. Around her she listened to bar patrons talk and laugh as the pungent smells of alcohol, cigarettes, and cheap bar food filled her nostrils and the sensation overload caused her to practically jump from her chair. She needed to get out of here. _

"_So, a new bath house huh? Maybe I would like to take a look," she said hesitantly watching as he visibly blanched. He looked surprised, but he did offer to show it to her after all. _

_It only took him a moment to deliberate before he spoke. "Well let's go then," he said nonchalantly. _

_She watched gratefully as he pulled out a few notes and placed them on the bar and gave Yoshio a final nod. Sakura waved at the old bartender and then together she and Genma were walking out of the bar. _

_Outside the air was warm as their footsteps echoed out into the Konoha night. She brought her arms around herself, but she wasn't cold. Her skin seemed to prickle with his proximity as her heart began to race quicker as they rounded the corner of his building to stand in front of a women's bathhouse. It was nothing special really, just a clean cut girly looking building that had a picture of a rose surrounded by squiggles which must have been steam on the sign out front. It actually looked no different than any other bathhouse, but she feigned interest out of politeness. _

"_It looks nice," she said noncommittally playing with her hands behind her back scuffing her feet on the ground. _

_What were they doing? She could tell he was no more interested in the bathhouse than she was, but then what were they doing standing outside of a closed building in the middle of the night anyway? She heard a sound of scuffling feet and looked up to see him walking over to her until he was standing well within her personal space only a breaths space apart. Slowly he reached down and brushed a lock of her pink hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. The breath caught in her throat and her mouth went dry as she looked up at him expectantly. Then he leaned in to her until she felt his breath against her lips._

"_Yes it does," he breathed, and then he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers. _

Sakura snapped out of her memory when she realized she was no longer in front of the bar that night, but sitting in a stilled silence in front of a camp fire with Genma, who apparently was still waiting for her to answer his question. "I didn't think we'd… you know," she started awkwardly. "You just asked and I guess I was curious."

Genma nodded his head and took a stick in his hands and began to break it into smaller pieces as he thought quietly to himself. Around them the sounds of the forest were coming alive filling in their silence with a trickle of a stream and the chirps of birds and strange insects. "Why sleep with me then if you two were involved?" He asked focusing on the broken pieces of wood in his hands.

"_Involved,"_ Sakura snorted. "Look, I don't know, it's all very confusing. I don't exactly have the best track record with love or anything else for that matter you know? I just, I wanted to. I wanted to see if what I felt for Naruto after… you know…"

"Sex Hana, just say it," he interrupted.

"I know!" she hissed uncomfortably, her cheeks going hot and red. "I just wanted to see if what I felt for Naruto after… sex, was different from what I felt with you."

He looked up at her then in curiosity. "And?" He asked trying to get her to continue.

"And it was, okay?" She said in a rush. "I don't know what I feel, all I know is now I feel emptier than ever and I don't want to talk about it." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pointedly looking at the fire ending the conversation.

_O.K_, Genma thought. If she didn't want to talk that was fine by him. He brought up his hand and scratched the stubble that was beginning to grow in on his chin before he spoke. "To tell you the truth I'm not sure why I asked you to go to the bar that night…" his eyed glazed over then and he looked like he was many miles away and a small smile came to his lips. "but I'm glad I did, I don't regret it."

Sakura blushed again and tried very hard not to look at him. At the obvious expression of her embarrassment he chuckled lightly.

"Don't get me wrong, at first I thought I did after being attacked by Kakashi after I told him.."

"What? You told Kakashi?" She yelled jumping to her feet, all remnants of her embarrassment gone.

Genma looked up at her guiltily, a look of surprise across his face. "Err, yes, not in so many words of course, but I did bring it up."

_You Idiot!_ She thought angrily and then her eyes got wild. "Did he tell Naruto?," she asked in a panic.

"Er, not exactly."

She lifted an eyebrow, and then her eyes went wide in horror, "You didn't?" she gasped.

He put his arms out in defense. "Wha.. no! Well not exactly."

Her face turned a frightening shade of red, and not the flattering color that revealed embarrassment, as she tightened her hands into dangerous little fists. "You had better start making more sense Shiranui or I'm going to punch you clear back to Konoha!"

"Well you see," he laughed nervously, "Kakashi and I were at Ichiraku's, I decided to tell him because he's my friend and your teacher."

She raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, "And?" she asked impatiently.

"_And_ I felt he deserved to know. Look, I wanted to tell him because I knew he would kill me if he found out on his own, and trust me, he would have found out. I just thought that if I brought it up then everything would blow over quickly and we could all move on, but," he trailed off again and started to twirl the senbon in his mouth nervously.

Sakura listened to the metal clanging against his teeth, waiting for him to answer. "But?" she prompted.

He sighed. "_But,_ Naruto was standing just outside the curtain and he heard me."

Her eyes got impossibly huge and the wild look of distress on her face made him panic for a second.

"Sakura, I didn't know he was standing there and before I knew it I was on the ground and Kakashi was being pulled off of me. When I got to my feet they made me tell them what happened and I did, well hinted really, and then suddenly Kakashi was on me again and really the whole thing was a complete mess," he said in a rush, sucking in a deep breath. "Then before I knew it Naruto had run off."

She didn't want to talk anymore. Thinking of Naruto still irritated the fresh gaping emotional wound in her chest. Emotionlessly she reached out and took a fish skewer out of the fire handing one to Genma and taking one for herself before they could burn. She looked at it a while but couldn't bring herself to eat it.

Genma eyed her contemplatively before picking at his fish skewer chewing slowly. He watched as she flipped her own skewer over and over catching it by the ends with her fingertips until finally he couldn't take it anymore and reached out and snatched her hand in his.

"You're supposed to eat it Hana, not teach it circus tricks," he said motioning it playfully towards her mouth with a tentative smile.

Sakura rolled her eyes but brought the broiled meat to her lips and ate it, but tasting nothing. When she had finished she wiped her fingers onto her skirt and threw the empty skewer into the fire and watched it burn into nothing. For a while none of them spoke.

"Genma?" she asked finally.

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever been in love," she asked hesitantly without looking at him.

The question caught him off guard and for a while he sat there mulling over his thoughts before he began to speak. "I think everyone's been in love before by the time they reach my age Sakura, just some of us don't realize it."

"You're age," she scoffed. There was another pause, "So who did you love and not realize it?" she asked sagely, regarding him with a curious look.

The look on her face was so innocent it was practically endearing. It was also rather misleading, there was no innocent twelve year old left behind those soft features. Everything she had done and seen as a shinobi had made sure of that. He decided in that moment that she was not like a Sakura blossom at all, even though she shared the same coloring as her namesake. Blossoms were frail and pretty, but withered away quickly. Sakura was more like a rose. Beautiful yes, but also prickly and enduring. Or perhaps she was nothing like a flower at all, maybe she was more like a rock; a small pretty rock that could break your bones and kill you if it hit you just right.

He smiled at her and reached out and ruffled her hair like he had seen Kakashi do so many times when she was younger. She let out a small cry of indignation as he removed his hand and stood. "You have something special Hana, don't let it go to waste. The ANBU guards will keep watch. You should get some rest."

With that he stood and walked to his tent and disappeared inside leaving her to her thoughts.

XXXX

Sakura watched him go with a mixture of affection and confusion. She liked Genma, he was a good man. She was glad that, out of anyone she could have gone home with that night, it had been him. It was strange to think that things had happened the way they did. She had worked near him for years and then suddenly less than a month after the night of the wedding she found herself in the arms of another man. How could someone who had never shown any interest in her before ask her out so suddenly and then invite her home with him just as readily? Men were strange creatures she was coming to realize. Maybe they weren't that mysterious when it came to the physical aspects of their desires but emotionally they were just as complicated as women, maybe even more so because they were mysteries even onto themselves.

Somehow she would figure out what to do about Naruto and fix this mess she had gotten herself into, but right now she had to focus on her mission and try not to let her thoughts get in the way. Everything would blow over soon, she was sure of it. All she had to do was give it some time.

Feeling a bit more resigned, she raised her hands over her head and stretched languidly. Then sighing she reached into her bag and pulled out a large medical book and a scroll. Studying had always been something that could calm her. It was amazing how going over complicated descriptions of extensive medical procedures and terms could completely drown out the world around her and all her troubles and emotions. She was thankful for it tonight. She flipped through her book's weathered pages until she found a section on respiratory illness and began to read and take notes, drinking in the warmth from the fire as she read.

XXXX

Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoyed that super long chapter.

Anyway, Oh Sakura…. she's being all judgy again. She should really grow out of that don't you agree? By the way, I'm not sure if people realize, but I know Sakura is being unfair. I wrote her to be a little immature. I know Naruto is basically the wounded party here. It's called plot and character development. So give me some time to resolve issues here people. We're only on chapter **4**.

Also, I didn't post this fanfic to piss people off. I don't like negative reviews any more than the next person. So those of you (I realize it's probably just one person) that keep making different accounts/names to harass me personally, please stop. If you don't like my fic that's fine, but stop calling me names and harassing me. You can have whatever opinion of my story, but under no circumstances do you know anything about **me**. I don't care what you want I'm not going to stop writing just because you're being a jackass. If you have a critique that's fine, but talking about my orgasms, calling me sick, or a troll, is more than just a little creepy and offensive, it's harassment. You're being completely inappropriate and immature and you need to stop and grow up. You also need to realize that this is a fan site. Nothing I post here affects cannon, so just chill out ok? There are so many other fanfictions on this site you might like. You don't have to like mine, I know this and accept it, now you need to as well and calm down. Again, I'm not trying to offend people and I sure as hell am not FORCING you to read this story. So chill out, it's just a fanfic. I also want to thank those of you who have been supportive of my writing, even if you don't like the story, by giving me constructive criticism. I appreciate your maturity and open-mindedness.

-Cricket


	5. Chapter 5

**Opheliac**

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto… obviously. I'm not making any money off of this story so don't sue. Please and thank you.

WARNING: This story is rated M overall for mature language and adult situations. Team 7 characters are around 25 in this story, which would put Kakashi and Genma around 40 or so give or take a few years. If you have an issue with the age difference or don't like the pairings, don't read.

Author's note: I tried to add hints of Japanese language and culture in this one. If there is anything that is incorrect, please let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I can. I tried to research as thoroughly as I believe I was able to, but I will not pretend to be any sort of expert on Japanese culture or language and you are encouraged to **politely** correct me, dear reader. If you don't understand a word just Wikipedia it or possibly I'll add a description at the end if people start asking for one.

XXXX

**Chapter-5**

They arrived at the palace the next day near midafternoon and had hardly been announced before Sakura was ushered to Madam Shijimi immediately where she spent the better part of a whole ten minutes fighting the infection in the honored madam's lungs. Afterwards she had sat with the lady going over every symptom and tiny ailment the woman was feeling before she had assured her that nothing else was wrong and was allowed to go to her room. Royalty never ceased to amaze her. It was funny how one could be so sheltered that even a common case of bronchitis could seem like a life threatening condition to them. How lucky she was that she had any medic at her disposal only because of her station, while the poor in the outlining villages suffered and died if a medic couldn't be paid fast enough. _Must be nice_, she thought somewhat bitterly, _to never have a care in the world other than which kimono to wear that day. _They really hadn't needed her at all, and especially not Tsunade, but what the Daimyo wanted the Daimyo got; he was the ruler of their land after all. However she couldn't help but feel a little placated to know that the Daimyo always gave generously and, even if her scruples couldn't allow her to admit it, her wallet was definitely going to thank him for that.

She walked down the baroque halls gazing at the smooth stone walls covered in beautiful tapestries in amazement. They were made with deep red and purple threads and bright rich golds that wove stories and painted descriptions of famous people and battles. She saw a few with Shinobi, but most were of the palace itself or of striking depictions of people who she assumed were a part of the Daimyo's family. She had never really seen anything quite like it.

Finally when she got to her room she was pleased to see that her bag was placed right inside the screen door. She picked it up gratefully and looked around in curiosity. Her room was a modest one, room enough for one with an ornate armoire in the corner, however it had one thing that made her practically squeal in delight. There in the center of the room across from a sliding door that lead out to a beautiful garden was a bed, and it wasn't just any bed, it was the largest most comfortable looking bed she had ever seen. It was definitely a far cry from the small lumpy thing she had at home. The blankets were a deep red color and there were more golden pillows and puffy blankets than she really thought were necessary, but just for one night it was all hers. Excitedly she ran forward, tossing her small bag to the side, and threw herself onto the luxurious surface and took a deep breath savoring the rich smell of goose down feathers and feeling the incredible softness of high threaded linens. She exhaled loudly letting out an excited laugh. She was definitely going to buy herself one of these one day. She laid there for a while letting her mind wander and dream about expensive beds and linens, and before she realized it, her eyes closed. Just as she was on the edge of sleep there was a knock at the door. Tiredly she stood and made her way to the front of the room and pulled the screen open.

A man was kneeling on the other side who had to be at least eighty years old, his jovial wrinkled face dripping with joy and politeness.

"Good evening miss," he said bowing. "I am here to invite you to dinner with the Daimyo and his family. You are asked to dress formally and meet in the main dining room in an hour," he told her politely.

She nodded once, but before he could shut the screen door she stopped him, "Excuse me sir, but I don't have anything to wear," she said hurriedly, looking down at her tattered soiled outfit she had worn on her journey to the palace. She hadn't exactly been expecting to stay very long and she certainly hadn't expected to be invited to a formal dinner. All she had was one other shirt that she was planning to wear tomorrow on her way back to Konoha, and a small tank top and shorts that she wore to bed.

"Not to worry miss, the clothing in the armoire is for you." He smiled and pointed to the large piece of furniture in the corner of the room. "Please feel free to choose anything to your liking. We will see you in the dining area in one hour. If you need anything please don't hesitate to ask." Then he bowed and snapped the screen tightly in her face.

Sakura stood there a moment quite taken aback. Was it always customary to offer a large room, clothing, and a formal dinner to guests, even ninjas? She supposed it was possible they thought her healing would have taken a few days, but it was more likely just a polite gesture or show of wealth. Whatever their reasoning she made her way to the corner of the room with an itching burn of curiosity and threw open the doors in the armoire and stared in wonder. To her amazement the inside was lined with luxurious kimonos of every color. Again she squealed in pleasure. It would be a shame to offend the Daimyo and his family by denying herself the pleasure of wearing one, and how could she choose just one if she didn't at least try them all on? With excitement in her step she grabbed her bag and flew down to hall to a ladies private bath. When inside she turned on the water as hot as it would get and it only took moments for the steam to saturate the entire room. Then she striped off her clothing and dunked herself completely under and let her mind wander.

_I wonder where Genma and the ANBU guards are_, she thought idly, letting the water sooth her aching muscles. She would have loved to stay longer, but she had only an hour to finish getting ready and to try on the kimonos so she only allowed herself another ten minutes before she exited.

She dressed quickly and made her way to her room and practically threw herself at the armoire and tore the doors open. As a kunoichi, she didn't have much time to indulge in such luxuries, so she took pleasure in taking her time trying on each and looking at herself in the mirror that was on the side of the armoire. It was amazing the kind of clothing that money could buy. The silks that the kimono were made out of were soft heavy fabrics that clung to her in all the right places and had intricate stitching and embroidery. She liked almost all of them but eventually she chose a deep red kimono that had golden cranes stitched on the top with a white dressing kimono underneath. After putting it on she searched the armoire and found a few drawers, one specifically with jewelry and the other with powders and makeup. She picked out a golden comb that had pink tinted ivory blossoms and used it to tie up her pink tresses. After, she took out a few makeup items and used a red pencil and ran the color over her soft lips and lined her eyes in black and gold. To her surprise and pleasure the colors matched her complexion and made the color of her eyes stand out beautifully against the dark and golden hues. _Ino would be so jealous_, she sang happily. She loved being a kunoichi, don't get her wrong, but sometimes it was nice just to be reminded that she was also a woman underneath it all.

As she put on the finishing touches to her makeup there was a knock at her door so she walked over and slid it open. For a moment it looked as though his eyes were going to bug straight out of his head. "Sakura, you look, well look at you."

On the other side of the screen stood Genma in a dark blue and white naga-bakama looking outrageously handsome. The sharp shoulders of the formal wear accentuating his broad chest that narrowed down to his slim waist held together by a thick belt. The bottom was plushy looking that completely drowned out his legs, but the overall effect was stunning. The formal looked ridiculously expensive and not at all practical, but neither was hers come to think on it.

Her mouth suddenly got a little dry_. Look at you,_ she thought, but didn't say it. "I think I like these missions," she said finally, twirling happily, breaking the tension. "I could totally get use to this."

Genma closed his mouth and watched her as she moved letting him get a nice view of her kimono from all angles. "Aww, little Hana likes to play dress up huh?" He teased and her eyes narrowed. "Isn't that cute. Well the dress is gorgeous, I'll give you that, and it'll go perfectly with your lady like behavior oomph!"

Sakura slapped him upside the head before sliding the door closed behind her. "And that," she drawled, "can go with your lack of tact."

He rubbed the back of his ruefully before smiling and following after her.

XXXXX

The dinner was an extravagant affair which Sakura felt completely and utterly ill prepared for, not to mention out of place. As she knelt with her legs to the side of her zabuton, she kept stealing furtive glances at Genma of whom it would seem had some experience with dinner parties oddly enough. _Guess old age comes with some perks_, she thought wickedly. As they ate he would whisper to her the names of foreign dishes that were placed in front of her and which utensils went with which. What was wrong with a little shrimp tempura, rice, and umeboshi she wouldn't know, but she preferred it over these heavy dishes and their strange utensils that she was suspiciously poking at.

"So Haruno-san," the Daimyo asked politely. Her head perked up and she stopped twirling a strange three pronged utensil with her index finger. "How is it that such a beautiful woman like you became a kunoichi?"

Genma raised his eyebrow in silent mockery as he turned to look at her. "Yes, Sakura-san please, do tell."

She shot Genma a dirty look before planting a particularly saccharine smile on her face and turned to address the Daimyo. "Well my Lord, I'm not from a clan and my parents were not shinobi, but they use to tell me that they wanted the best education for me and so the most logical decision was to send me to the ninja academy. My grandparents didn't agree, but I was thrilled with the idea, so they let me go."

"Oh, is that so?" he clapped jovially. "And so how is it that you became the Hogake's apprentice?"

She dabbed the side of her mouth with her napkin before depositing it in her lap and reached forward to offer him some tea which he took with a bow of his head. "Now that is a much more complicated story my Lord, I'm afraid it would take all night," she said playfully turning to Genma and offering to fill his cup which he accepted and then he took the kettle from her and filled hers politely.

"Oh please, we insist," Madame Shijimi piped in leaning back in her chair stroking her hideous brown cat affectionately. Sakura remembered the cat actually, she, Naruto, and Sasuke had captured the poor creature more than a decade ago as one of their first missions as team seven.

She politely bowed her head, "The short version then. You see I graduated from the academy and was placed on a team with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke and…"

"My word! Truly?" the Daimyo cried out, his eyes wide in surprise. "The demon of Konoha and the last Uchiha, it is a wonder you have turned out the way you have at all." He started to laugh then and the table followed his lead.

She gave him an irritated smile but inside she was wishing she could set his robes afire. "Yes, well, we were placed on a team with our sensei Hatake Kakashi…"

"Oh yes!" he interrupted again, "Yes of course, the celebrated copy ninja son to the renowned White Fang. He is quite the man of both noble and shameful notoriety, but his power and intelligence set him apart from all others. It is no wonder you are so talented my dear!" he clapped excitedly as he laughed. It was a horrible high pitched sound that made her left eye tweak and gave her goosbumps, and strangely reminded her of a blackbird she once killed that woke her up early one morning with that same atrocious cackle; of course it sort of fit the Daimyo with his long greasy dark hair and chronically tired complexion.

"Indeed," she said through gritted teeth, barely able to control her irritation. Daimyo or not he should learn to keep his stupid mouth shut while someone tells a story. Apparently Daimyos are not bound by silly social constructs such as manners.

"Anyway," she continued, "As I said the three of us were students under Kakashi-sensei but once Sasuke left our village I found it necessary to expand and grow in ways that he could no longer provide, so I went to the Hokage myself and asked to be placed under her tutelage to become a medic."

"Yes that makes more sense my dear, you are far too fair to be taking life with those gentle hands of yours," he said proud of his own deduction.

Inside Sakura was fuming. _I'll show you gentle hands you slimy bat!_ she seethed internally.

"Well you see my Lord, Sakura is a very talented medic, but she is also the strongest kunoichi in all of Konoha other than Tsunade herself. Her physical strength is widely renowned in our village and is a prized skill amongst her peers. She truly is an example of both strength and gentleness, her fairness aside." Genma interjected in her defense raising his glass to her and finishing his tea.

Sakura's mouth dropped to the floor. He was standing up for her and she was fairly positive he had just called her pretty as well, funny how that could drown out almost everything else. The thought that Genma thought so highly of her made her insides all warm and fuzzy. However she really didn't need him to stand up for her, she was perfectly capable of handling the conversation herself. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or touched that he stood up in her defense but she decided on the latter for now.

"Yes, yes, of course, but would you not say Shiranui-san that hands such as hers would better be suited as the hands of a nurturer? It seems such a shame to make one as young and beautiful as she into some kind of weapon for Fire Nation, however useful it may be dear," he said nodding to her.

Sakura sat so stiff, trying to repress her indignation and irritation, that just one touch and she felt she would shatter into a million screaming pieces._ I will not kill the Daimyo of Fire Nation, I will not kill the Daimyo of Fire Nation... _she chanted over and over in her mind as she breathed in deeply through her nose.

"Oh yes dear, she would make a wonderful geisha or a mother perhaps?" The daimyo's wife interjected.

Sakura choked on her own spit. _I will not kill the Daimyo's wife, I will not kill the Daimyo's wife…_

Genma noticed the vein on Sakura's head was practically popping out of her head and when she opened her mouth to speak he, sensing the murderous intent practically rolling off of her in waves, jumped in. "Well as a medic she heals and grants life almost every day, take your wife for example, she was healed within minutes."

The Daimyo's wife nodded in agreement.

"You could say that she nurtures life with her own two hands but she can take life as well. That's the life for a kunoichi; as any woman who fights for her country. Of course kunoichi have other skills that allow them to take on traditional roles. I'm pretty sure they study flower arranging, and, ugh."

Genma ground his teeth together as he jolted forward suddenly, knocking into the table sending his empty cup rolling.

"Are you alight Shiranui-san?" The Daimyo asked in concern, the confusion momentarily awakening his sleepy features.

Genma half scowled and smiled ruefully removing a particularly sharp utensil from his side as Sakura innocently reached for his cup placing it in front of him politely.

"Can't you all see? You're insulting her," a soft voice said suddenly.

All heads turned to the young man at the edge of the table. He was tall and thin with long straight black hair like his father. His eyes were brown and a bit droopy, much like Kakashi's she noticed, but with a hard cold demeanor that was a bit like Neji's.

"I think it's fascinating," he drawled. "I have studied the history of your village. It is interesting that both shinobi and kunoichi have found ways to equally serve as ninja. I do not believe in my parent's old fashion ideals, you must understand. It's rather archaic to think of women solely as a mother figure; as the nurturer, especially when woman have proven to be equally capable warriors as well. Take your Hokage for example; she has saved your village and my family countless times. She undoubtedly is possibly the strongest person, either male or female, the world has ever known and she has seen something in you to take you on as her apprentice. You must be very special indeed. "

No one said anything as they all sat there in shock. Sakura however smiled prettily at him thanking him with her eyes. The look did not go unnoticed and he bowed his head once before reaching for his glass and bringing it to his lips.

"Haruno-san, Shiranui-san, I do not believe you have met my son, Ichiro."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both," he said courteously. Sakura and Genma both bowed their heads slightly, as much was possible while sitting anyway.

"I wonder Haruno-san, I am interested to learn more about your Hokage and I hope to have the pleasure of working with her one day as the Daimyo, after my father of course," he said nodding towards the Daimyo, "Would you like to go for a walk and perhaps we can discuss more about Konoha?"

Sakura's mind suddenly went completely blank. Was he asking her what she thought he was asking her? Was it like a date or something? She had never been on a date before, not a real one anyway. Well, really this wouldn't count as a real date either would it? Funny how one could sleep with their best friend and their teacher's best friend, but never have been on a date. She wasn't exactly doing things in order she realized, of course she wasn't known to be a conventional woman anyway. Hell, she wasn't even a conventional kunoichi.

Her silent babble was broken when Madame Shijimi squealed suddenly jumping to her feet happily. "Oh yes, what a lovely idea, it would be a great opportunity to make personal ties with Konoha. Of course we wouldn't want to send the wrong idea dear, perhaps you could send one of your Abu guards to chaperone them," She said turning to Genma.

"ANBU," he corrected gently.

Sakura looked up at him and he smirked shrugging his shoulders. _You're mess not mine. Find your own way out Kunoichi,_ she could imagine him saying. What could she do? She couldn't exactly say no, that would look disrespectful, however if she said yes it would look totally unprofessional. Why was everything so complicated lately?

"Mother don't be absurd, I am not asking Haruno-san on a date, I am merely requesting to learn more about her village and their current leader. It's a completely professional social call. I apologize for my mother's presumptuous behavior Haruno-san." He said, but she didn't miss the slight red tint to his cheeks and the way he was unable to make eye contact. She turned to Genma then pleading with him to help her somehow, but he just sat there laughing at her silently bring his glass to his lips. She returned the favor, laughing at him with her eyes, when he realized that his cup was, in fact, empty. He pretended to drink anyway.

Calmly she took in a breath before she spoke.

"Ties between that of the Hokage and the Daimyo hold great importance. I know that my Shishou would greatly appreciate your willingness to form a bond with her in a mutual cooperation. You will be the Daimyo one day and if you would like to know more about our village then of course I would be happy to oblige," she said, surprising herself at the civility of the words.

Ichiro looked up at her then and for the first time that night she saw him smile.

"Perfect," he said standing up from the table. He walked around to the other side of the table to where he sat. With one hand behind his back he held out the other to her and she took it as he lifted her to her feet graciously. "Shall we?" his voice so smooth you could spread it on toast.

She allowed him to put her hand on his arm and smiled. "Of course."

Then they were walking out of the room into the garden without a backward glance.

After they were gone Genma waited ten minutes or so and then excused himself politely and walked to the open sliding screen connecting the dining room to a large garden. The palace was a beautiful place, but it didn't suit him. He preferred a plain life with a steady, albeit dangerous job, and simple apartment back in Konoha. Coming to the palace was always an interesting experience of course, he had been here a few times with Tsunade, however the extravagance of every surface from the gold trimmed beddings to the ivory flower vases made him cringe. He felt like a bull in a china shop, he just didn't fit in. However Sakura, as uncomfortable as she felt, seemed to fit in perfectly. She was just another flower in the garden here.

As he stared out into the garden letting the cool night air blow through his hair, he pulled out a senbon and twirled it around in his mouth. _Professional social call my ass, _Genma thought to himself.If that kid wasn't really just trying to get into her Kimono he would swallow his senbon.

"Follow them," he said suddenly out into the night. The only evidence that he had spoken to anyone at all were the two black figures with white masks that blurred past him and then were gone.

XXXXX

For a while they just walked in silence as they made their way through the garden and Sakura focused her attention on the elegant bonsai that loomed over them and tried very hard to not think of the man that stood beside her. The tension seemed to fill the air between them as neither spoke, and it was starting to make her very uncomfortable.

"So," she started lamely, letting the word hang in the air between them.

"How do you find my palace Sakura-san?"

The question took her completely off guard. She thought for a moment trying to gather her words before responding. "Truthfully?" she asked.

"Yes please," he said smirking slightly as they winded down a wide cobble stone path that lead to a small lake on the property.

Great, what was she supposed to say? She looked around then truly taking in the garden surrounding the palace. In front of her the water on top of the lake was incredibly clear and calm. It was a beautiful night that was lit magically by the lanterns that surrounded the property as fireflies buzzed happily across the still waters and the smell of roses and other flowers hung like a thick perfume in the air. Everything about the palace was perceptually rich and striking, but she found it almost stifling. They both stood there admiring its beauty before she spoke.

"It's beautiful of course. I've never seen anything like it, but…" she let the words die out.

"But?" he said gesturing for her to continue.

"But I find it extravagant. You have to understand that I'm not use to such…" she waved her hand in front of her as if it would help her find the word she was looking for.

"Such…elegance?" Ichiro offered.

"Elegance! Right, elegance," she said in a rush. "My life is more plain and simple back in Konoha. I like it that way. Being here is like a fairytale, one that I know will never last. I know my place Ichiro-san, and it's not in a place like this."

He let a smile spread across his face as the cool breeze fanned against his face. "You are a very tactful speaker Sakura-san," was all he said.

For a moment she wondered if she had offended him but he said nothing more on the subject as they both watched the water in a much more comfortable silence. How very strange that she was standing here with the Daimyo's son under the stars, eating rich foreign foods, and sleeping in an extravagant bed. If someone would have told her this was how her next mission would have been she would have just laughed at them and thought them completely mad, she could hardly even believe it herself even as it was happening.

"Your companion is very loyal to you, I think he's in love with you," he said suddenly breaking her from her thoughts.

She turned to look at him with her mouth gapping quite unattractively and her mind completely failed her as she struggled to find a response. She made a strange gurgling sound, and it took her a moment, before finally she was able to gain some composure. "Of course he isn't Ichiro-san. He only defended me because as my teammate and fellow shinobi he felt it was his duty, nothing more."

_Right, Genma in love with me?_ She scoffed. _That's just, that is just, that's ridiculous. _She babbled internally.

Ichiro smiled at her words and turned to look at her. "I think it is a very attractive quality in a woman who can be so humble but be just as strong and beautiful as you are."

All babbling was forgotten. _Good god, this is a date,_ she thought numbly, blushing fiercely. She had no idea how to react. Remarkably she once again found her voice. "Please, you flatter me unnecessarily Ichiro-san. I'm strong only because my shishou has made me strong. It is my duty, nothing more nothing less."

"You think much about your duty. I wonder if anyone is deserving enough for such blind loyalty," he said stepping forward to face her full on. He was standing very close to her now and her skin prickled with the need to step away from him, but she suppressed the urge and forced herself to stare directly at him.

The look in his eyes was almost playful as he waited for her answer. It was like they were playing some kind of game that she didn't have the instructions to and she couldn't help but think she might be playing it wrong. This was nothing like what she had done in the bar with Genma. With Genma flirting had been fun and exhilarating. This made her nervous, but if this really was a date, she had an idea.

"There are many who deserve my loyalty Ichiro-san," she said softly, allowing her gaze to fall to his feet in a submissive gesture. "Perhaps even you one day."

At that his smile widened. It was exactly what he wanted to hear. "I look forward to the day Sakura-san," he practically purred.

His tone made her gaze to snap back up to meet his. The air was becoming thick and uncomfortable and before she could react he reached forward and placed a hand on her waist. Her breath caught in her throat as her pulse started to quicken. It took everything within her not to punch him upside the head.

Oh yes, she was playing the game right, but she just realized it wasn't a game she wanted to play, not with him anyway. His gaze became too much so she turned her head and tried to politely put some distance between them, but his hold tightened as his thumb started to play lazy circles on her hip. She stiffened at the sensation, however, Ichiro did not seem to be put off by her reaction.

"Will you be Hokage one day?" he asked softly stepping even closer until she could feel the line of his body pressed against hers.

This was bad, she was either going to have to push him away or let him kiss her. On the one hand pushing him would give her the satisfaction of wiping that slimy lusty smile off his face and save her from having to kiss him, on the other hand it was treason. Choices…

Her body spasmed then and she fought the rising bile in throat as she felt him lay soft kisses down the column of her throat, the air making her shiver unpleasantly as it blew across the wet trail his kisses left behind. She had no idea what to do, nothing like this had ever happened to her before. If this had been any other situation she could have just screamed at him or broken his hand, but she couldn't hurt the future Daimyo. If he even suspected her trail of thought he could have her arrested for treason. How far was she willing to let this go before she was forced to either hurt him or be hurt?

"You're shivering Sakura-san, are you cold?" he asked leaning more heavily into her revealing the evidence of his desire as he pressed himself into her.

"Ichiro-san?" She breathed. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to kiss you, you silly girl, now hold still." He griped her waist tighter, holding her in place, and leaned in.

A wild panic flooded through her and she fought to find her voice and said the only thing she could think of. "I don't want to be Hokage!" She yelled out suddenly taking in slow gulps of air trying to push away her panic.

This caught him by surprise and he leaned back. "Is that so?"

"Yes," she breathed, "But I have a friend back home who is going to be Hokage one day."

"I see," he said in poorly concealed disappointment, "And who is this friend of yours?"

For a moment she let herself think of him and it calmed her slightly as she allowed the good memories of her boisterous blond haired best friend flood her mind. "My teammate and friend, Uzumaki Naruto," she breathed affectionately. Kami she wished Naruto was here right now. All awkwardness and shameful thoughts aside, she missed her best friend terribly.

He stepped away from her abruptly and she looked up to see the surprise on his face. "Naruto, the demon of Konoha, your friend and the next Hokage?" He scoffed. When she didn't reply, a loud rough sound started low in his chest and bubbled outwards as Ichiro started to laugh right in her face. Sakura's eyes darkened.

"Yes, that's right," she said defiantly watching him as he brought his hand up to cover his mouth.

"Forgive me Sakura-san," he said through the tears that were prickling in the corners of his eyes, "but surely you must be joking. No one in their right mind would allow that _thing_ a position of such great power."

It took every ounce of her will power to not turn and cuff the future Daimyo of her country across the face. "That _thing_ is my best friend." She said darkly, glaring at him angrily.

He stepped back, visibly affronted by her gaze and tone. Apparently people didn't speak to him like that very often. He seemed to puff up then trying to look larger than he actually was, perhaps trying to intimidate her, but she'd be damned than feel threatened by some prissy boy who probably didn't even wipe his own ass.

"I am disappointed that you would keep such questionable company. It disappoints me more to have to tell you this, but I will never allow the Hokage of Konoha to be run by a monster," he quipped authoritatively.

"Well with all due respect Ichiro-san," her words dripping with sarcasm, "It is not your decision alone. The jounin of my village will give him their vote."

He stepped forward suddenly and grabbed the tops of her arms painfully pulling her face close to his and she gasped. "The Jounin of your village will do as _I_ say, and that _thing_ should consider himself lucky he hasn't been chained up and left in a cell to rot for the remainder of his pathetic life. The only reason he is still alive is because the man is easier to watch and control than the beast!" He spat angrily, face only inches from hers. "Although, I wouldn't be surprised if his luck runs out soon," he said dangerously.

Sakura's eyes went wide as she stared up at him in shock and a growing sense of panic. "What is that supposed to mean?" she whispered, the fear shining in her eyes.

"You would also do well to learn some respect for your superiors, which you obviously seem to lack. Having a pretty face will only get you so far in this world and there is only so much I am willing to tolerate." He growled so close their noses were practically touching.

Like before, she fought not to push him away. Snapping the future Daimyo's neck probably wouldn't go over well with Tsunade. "Respect, Ichiro-san, must be earned," she fumed, her fear turned to anger as the fury practically dripped from her words splattering around them like acid. "You of all people should try to understand that. The people in my village know who Naruto is and they trust him. He's a good man and he is no monster! Naruto loves his village and they love him, I love him" She added without thinking. "They _respect_ him because he has earned it, not because he's some well to do prissy boy who was born into the right fam..." the insult died in her throat before it could completely surface, because at that moment a hand flew across her face hard. Her head snapped to the side and her eyes widened in surprise. She brought her hand up to her face and felt it radiating heat.

_That fucking bastard just hit me!_

Ichiro looked just as surprised as she did, and in his panic, he pushed her forcefully away from him as if he had been burned, causing her to lose her balance and fall to her knees. He stared down at her a moment his face distorted in disgust, with himself or with her she couldn't tell. "Forgive me Sakura-san, but I believe our conversation is over, it's getting late." Then without a second glance he turned and walked away from her leaving her there next to the lake.

Sakura watched him numbly, holding her cheek, until she could no longer see him. Her emotions flooded through her in waves of shock, fear, shame, and disgust. The reality of what had just happened hit and she held her chest trying to control her breathing as tears pricked into the corners of her eyes.

He had hit her, he had caused her shame and pain, but the only thing she could think about was Naruto._ Is this really what others still thought of Naruto? How could they? Did they not know him at all?_ She guessed it was because everyone in her village had grown to accept him that the rest of the world would have too. She was wrong and what was worse, the future head of her country thought he was a monster. Then a crippling pain shot through her chest. What did Ichiro mean that Naruto's luck was about to run out? Was Ichiro going to do something to Naruto? Was the Daimyo? How anyone could consider him a monster was beyond her. If they only spent a moment with him they would know that he was the kindest person you could ever meet. An unbearable sense of pity gripped her heart then and before she could stop herself, she bowed her head and started to cry.

"Damn it!" She growled pounding her fist into the ground making a small indent into the soft soil. If that was what Ichiro and the Daimyo thought of him then she was going to do everything possible to change his mind. Regardless of her feelings she had to! His safety was on the line. "I promise you Naruto! I'll show them who you really are. I promise you! I will help you gain their respect and acknowledgement. I promise!" She yelled out across the lake to no one, sobbing her frustration into the night.

She didn't even know he was there until he touched her shoulder. Her shinobi reflexes kicked in and before she realized what she was doing the ANBU guard was beneath her as she held his kunai that was placed in his thigh holster to his throat. The guard beneath her made no move to push her away and for a moment neither of them moved until the gravity of the situation caught up to her and she flung herself off of him, her eyes going wide.

"I'm sorry," she breathed shaking her head. "Forgive me," and then she was running away, down the path and back to the palace. She could have pushed chakra to her feet but she wanted to run without it. She wanted to exert herself, to feel her body scream in exhaustion and to feel the blood pump through her veins making that horrible emotional pain physical and real.

She rounded the corner up the path to the sliding screen that lead into the dining room that they all had been in less than an hour before and flung herself though it only to collide forcefully into someone and they both let out a surprised yelp. He caught her as they both crashed painfully into the wall behind him and she looked up to see the surprise written all over his face.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Genma asked her, gripping her arms and searching her eyes. Then he looked over her shoulder searching for any sign of a threat.

She was gasping as she tried to form her thoughts into words, trying not to choke on fresh sobs as they escaped her throat, but she was breathing so hard from running she couldn't breathe let alone speak.

"Where's Ichiro?" he asked looking around for him. She made a small growling sound in the back of her throat which caused his gaze to snap back at her, fully taking her appearance in for the first time. Her hair was wild and frazzled; the beautiful Sakura comb she had been wearing was gone. He could see her makeup was smeared with black and gold trails mixed in with tear stains shining down her cheeks. Then with a start he saw that her lip was bleeding. He followed down the line of her body and as he looked down he saw dirt stains around the knees of her half open kimono and her palms were dirty and bleeding as well.

Anger and panic filled him immediately and his eyes narrowed. Something had happened. _Why was she crying? Why was she bleeding!?_ A sickening realization dawned on him and he put his hands on either side of her face and forced her to look up at him as he stared into her eyes.

"Did he… hurt you?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

She snorted but shook her head wieldy but was still unable to speak.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Then what happened?" he asked softy, but she wouldn't look at him.

Sakura couldn't stand to look at him and see the concern written over his features. She had to get out of here and calm down. "I'm sorry," she choked out before she broke his hold on her and bolted out of the room and down the hall and into her room, barely registering him calling out her name as she ran.

When she reached her door she threw herself into the room, tearing the kimono off of her not wanting something that belonged to _him_ and this place on her body. She found a pitcher of water and threw it over her head using the kimono to scrub the makeup off of her face. When she was finished she threw the ruined, once beautiful garment, into a corner in her room with a loud wet slap and threw herself onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.

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Another author's note: Sorry for the delay! Like I said on my profile page, I'm moving clear across the country (slowly… visiting family and friends along the way). Patience would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, so this chapter was drafted many months ago and is not a product of people's suggestions. I didn't feel harassed into writing an unfortunate situation for Sakura, nor is this supposed to "make up" for Sakura being somewhat clueless and inconsiderate, some have said "bitch" (She doesn't realize she is btw, even if the reader does. Her cluelessness for Naruto's feelings and her hypocritical nature are flaws that I purposefully put in her personality, which I am only taking from her character in the manga and anime and exaggerating these characteristics. I know the character I am developing and I know she's frustrating at times, however try to be patient with her, sometimes we don't realize our flaws until someone points them out ^_~) Also, I have no idea if the Daimyo has a son in the manga, I only know he has a wife and a desperate cat in the anime, but he does here. This is me taking yet another example of a "creative license".

Anyway, I 3 U so please review!

-Cricket


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